diff --git a/tools/perf/util/copyfile.c b/tools/perf/util/copyfile.c
index 3fa0db136667..47e03de7c235 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/copyfile.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/copyfile.c
@@ -101,14 +101,16 @@ static int copyfile_mode_ns(const char *from, const char *to, mode_t mode,
 	if (tofd < 0)
 		goto out;
 
-	if (fchmod(tofd, mode))
-		goto out_close_to;
-
 	if (st.st_size == 0) { /* /proc? do it slowly... */
 		err = slow_copyfile(from, tmp, nsi);
+		if (!err && fchmod(tofd, mode))
+			err = -1;
 		goto out_close_to;
 	}
 
+	if (fchmod(tofd, mode))
+		goto out_close_to;
+
 	nsinfo__mountns_enter(nsi, &nsc);
 	fromfd = open(from, O_RDONLY);
 	nsinfo__mountns_exit(&nsc);