diff --git a/tools/perf/perf.c b/tools/perf/perf.c
index 20a08cb32332..cd6ea55d4b0c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/perf.c
+++ b/tools/perf/perf.c
@@ -458,7 +458,6 @@ int main(int argc, const char **argv)
 
 	srandom(time(NULL));
 
-	perf_config__init();
 	err = perf_config(perf_default_config, NULL);
 	if (err)
 		return err;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/config.c b/tools/perf/util/config.c
index 84eb9393c7db..5ac157056cdf 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/config.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/config.c
@@ -707,6 +707,14 @@ struct perf_config_set *perf_config_set__new(void)
 	return set;
 }
 
+static int perf_config__init(void)
+{
+	if (config_set == NULL)
+		config_set = perf_config_set__new();
+
+	return config_set == NULL;
+}
+
 int perf_config(config_fn_t fn, void *data)
 {
 	int ret = 0;
@@ -714,7 +722,7 @@ int perf_config(config_fn_t fn, void *data)
 	struct perf_config_section *section;
 	struct perf_config_item *item;
 
-	if (config_set == NULL)
+	if (config_set == NULL && perf_config__init())
 		return -1;
 
 	perf_config_set__for_each_entry(config_set, section, item) {
@@ -735,12 +743,6 @@ int perf_config(config_fn_t fn, void *data)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-void perf_config__init(void)
-{
-	if (config_set == NULL)
-		config_set = perf_config_set__new();
-}
-
 void perf_config__exit(void)
 {
 	perf_config_set__delete(config_set);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/config.h b/tools/perf/util/config.h
index baf82bf227ac..bd0a5897c76a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/config.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/config.h
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ struct perf_config_set *perf_config_set__new(void);
 void perf_config_set__delete(struct perf_config_set *set);
 int perf_config_set__collect(struct perf_config_set *set, const char *file_name,
 			     const char *var, const char *value);
-void perf_config__init(void);
 void perf_config__exit(void);
 void perf_config__refresh(void);