diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-timechart.c b/tools/perf/builtin-timechart.c
index 912e3b5bb22b..df3b1c5ae7b9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-timechart.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-timechart.c
@@ -1607,6 +1607,8 @@ static int __cmd_timechart(struct timechart *tchart, const char *output_name)
 	if (session == NULL)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
+	symbol__init();
+
 	(void)perf_header__process_sections(&session->header,
 					    perf_data_file__fd(session->file),
 					    tchart,
@@ -1982,8 +1984,6 @@ int cmd_timechart(int argc, const char **argv,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	symbol__init();
-
 	if (argc && !strncmp(argv[0], "rec", 3)) {
 		argc = parse_options(argc, argv, record_options, record_usage,
 				     PARSE_OPT_STOP_AT_NON_OPTION);