diff --git a/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c b/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c
index 920b1d58a068..e76214f8d596 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/trace-event-parse.c
@@ -164,16 +164,15 @@ void parse_ftrace_printk(struct tep_handle *pevent,
 void parse_saved_cmdline(struct tep_handle *pevent,
 			 char *file, unsigned int size __maybe_unused)
 {
-	char *comm;
+	char comm[17]; /* Max comm length in the kernel is 16. */
 	char *line;
 	char *next = NULL;
 	int pid;
 
 	line = strtok_r(file, "\n", &next);
 	while (line) {
-		sscanf(line, "%d %ms", &pid, &comm);
-		tep_register_comm(pevent, comm, pid);
-		free(comm);
+		if (sscanf(line, "%d %16s", &pid, comm) == 2)
+			tep_register_comm(pevent, comm, pid);
 		line = strtok_r(NULL, "\n", &next);
 	}
 }