diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace+probe_vfs_getname.sh b/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace+probe_vfs_getname.sh
index 3d31c1d560d6..3d60e993d2b8 100755
--- a/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace+probe_vfs_getname.sh
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace+probe_vfs_getname.sh
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@ skip_if_no_perf_trace || exit 2
 
 . $(dirname $0)/lib/probe_vfs_getname.sh
 
-file=$(mktemp /tmp/temporary_file.XXXXX)
-
 trace_open_vfs_getname() {
 	evts=$(echo $(perf list syscalls:sys_enter_open* 2>/dev/null | egrep 'open(at)? ' | sed -r 's/.*sys_enter_([a-z]+) +\[.*$/\1/') | sed 's/ /,/')
 	perf trace -e $evts touch $file 2>&1 | \
@@ -32,6 +30,8 @@ if [ $err -ne 0 ] ; then
 	exit $err
 fi
 
+file=$(mktemp /tmp/temporary_file.XXXXX)
+
 # Do not use whatever ~/.perfconfig file, it may change the output
 # via trace.{show_timestamp,show_prefix,etc}
 export PERF_CONFIG=/dev/null