diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace_summary.sh b/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace_summary.sh
index 22e2651d5919..b80dea77cec6 100755
--- a/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace_summary.sh
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/shell/trace_summary.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ OUTPUT=$(mktemp /tmp/perf_trace_test.XXXXX)
 
 test_perf_trace() {
     args=$1
-    workload="true"
+    workload="cat /dev/null"
     search="^\s*(open|read|close).*[0-9]+%$"
 
     echo "testing: perf trace ${args} -- ${workload}"