diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
index 7777cfc1ad8c4c4084d896d263920caf90b4c76f..de488b43f440ff03517cfe841835479f72815271 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cs-etm.c
@@ -422,11 +422,9 @@ static struct cs_etm_queue *cs_etm__alloc_queue(struct cs_etm_auxtrace *etm)
 	if (!etmq->packet)
 		goto out_free;
 
-	if (etm->synth_opts.last_branch || etm->sample_branches) {
-		etmq->prev_packet = zalloc(szp);
-		if (!etmq->prev_packet)
-			goto out_free;
-	}
+	etmq->prev_packet = zalloc(szp);
+	if (!etmq->prev_packet)
+		goto out_free;
 
 	if (etm->synth_opts.last_branch) {
 		size_t sz = sizeof(struct branch_stack);