diff --git a/tools/perf/util/config.c b/tools/perf/util/config.c
index 4b893c6222362..a0c9ff27c7bf2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/config.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/config.c
@@ -628,11 +628,10 @@ static int collect_config(const char *var, const char *value,
 	}
 
 	ret = set_value(item, value);
-	return ret;
 
 out_free:
 	free(key);
-	return -1;
+	return ret;
 }
 
 int perf_config_set__collect(struct perf_config_set *set, const char *file_name,