diff --git a/tools/perf/util/stat-display.c b/tools/perf/util/stat-display.c
index 4688e39de52a..971fd77bd3e6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/stat-display.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/stat-display.c
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ static void print_metric_only(struct perf_stat_config *config,
 	if (color)
 		mlen += strlen(color) + sizeof(PERF_COLOR_RESET) - 1;
 
-	color_snprintf(str, sizeof(str), color ?: "", fmt, val);
+	color_snprintf(str, sizeof(str), color ?: "", fmt ?: "", val);
 	fprintf(out, "%*s ", mlen, str);
 }