diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 07b1a3ad3e24..63b6f8c8edf2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -1514,7 +1514,7 @@ int perf_evsel__open_strerror(struct perf_evsel *evsel,
 	switch (err) {
 	case EPERM:
 	case EACCES:
-		return scnprintf(msg, size, "%s",
+		return scnprintf(msg, size,
 		 "You may not have permission to collect %sstats.\n"
 		 "Consider tweaking /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid:\n"
 		 " -1 - Not paranoid at all\n"