diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c b/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
index 47043a3a2fb4..e82ecdc95777 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
@@ -471,8 +471,11 @@ static int read_object_code(u64 addr, size_t len, u8 cpumode,
 			goto out;
 		}
 
-		decomp = true;
-		objdump_name = decomp_name;
+		/* empty pathname means file wasn't actually compressed */
+		if (decomp_name[0] != '\0') {
+			decomp = true;
+			objdump_name = decomp_name;
+		}
 	}
 
 	/* Read the object code using objdump */
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/disasm.c b/tools/perf/util/disasm.c
index 59ba88e1f744..0a1a7e9cf3ef 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/disasm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/disasm.c
@@ -1577,8 +1577,11 @@ int symbol__disassemble(struct symbol *sym, struct annotate_args *args)
 		if (dso__decompress_kmodule_path(dso, symfs_filename, tmp, sizeof(tmp)) < 0)
 			return -1;
 
-		decomp = true;
-		strcpy(symfs_filename, tmp);
+		/* empty pathname means file wasn't actually compressed */
+		if (tmp[0] != '\0') {
+			decomp = true;
+			strcpy(symfs_filename, tmp);
+		}
 	}
 
 	/*
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/dso.c b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
index ee06a252a54d..6a34717c9f31 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/dso.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/dso.c
@@ -343,8 +343,11 @@ int filename__decompress(const char *name, char *pathname,
 	 * To keep this transparent, we detect this and return the file
 	 * descriptor to the uncompressed file.
 	 */
-	if (!compressions[comp].is_compressed(name))
+	if (!compressions[comp].is_compressed(name)) {
+		if (pathname && len > 0)
+			pathname[0] = '\0';
 		return open(name, O_RDONLY | O_CLOEXEC);
+	}
 
 	fd = mkostemp(tmpbuf, O_CLOEXEC);
 	if (fd < 0) {
@@ -598,8 +601,11 @@ static char *dso__get_filename(struct dso *dso, const char *root_dir,
 			goto out;
 		}
 
-		*decomp = true;
-		strcpy(name, newpath);
+		/* empty pathname means file wasn't actually compressed */
+		if (newpath[0] != '\0') {
+			*decomp = true;
+			strcpy(name, newpath);
+		}
 	}
 	return name;
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c b/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
index 06cfb84f86eb..10902a5dc6db 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/symbol-elf.c
@@ -920,12 +920,14 @@ int filename__read_build_id(const char *filename, struct build_id *bid)
 			return -1;
 		}
 		close(fd);
-		filename = path;
+		/* non-empty path means a temp file was created */
+		if (path[0] != '\0')
+			filename = path;
 	}
 
 	err = read_build_id(filename, bid);
 
-	if (m.comp)
+	if (m.comp && filename == path)
 		unlink(filename);
 	return err;
 }