diff --git a/tools/perf/perf.c b/tools/perf/perf.c
index 4bee53c3f796..59ea48c7e26c 100644
--- a/tools/perf/perf.c
+++ b/tools/perf/perf.c
@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ static int run_builtin(struct cmd_struct *p, int argc, const char **argv)
 		use_pager = 1;
 	commit_pager_choice();
 
+	perf_env__set_cmdline(&perf_env, argc, argv);
 	status = p->fn(argc, argv, prefix);
 	exit_browser(status);
 	perf_env__exit(&perf_env);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/env.c b/tools/perf/util/env.c
index 6af4f7c36820..7dd5939dea2e 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/env.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/env.c
@@ -25,15 +25,6 @@ int perf_env__set_cmdline(struct perf_env *env, int argc, const char *argv[])
 {
 	int i;
 
-	/*
-	 * If env->cmdline_argv has already been set, do not override it.  This allows
-	 * a command to set the cmdline, parse args and then call another
-	 * builtin function that implements a command -- e.g, cmd_kvm calling
-	 * cmd_record.
-	 */
-	if (env->cmdline_argv != NULL)
-		return 0;
-
 	/* do not include NULL termination */
 	env->cmdline_argv = calloc(argc, sizeof(char *));
 	if (env->cmdline_argv == NULL)
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
index 9fca09296eb3..d09aff983581 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-options.c
@@ -501,8 +501,6 @@ int parse_options_subcommand(int argc, const char **argv, const struct option *o
 {
 	struct parse_opt_ctx_t ctx;
 
-	perf_env__set_cmdline(&perf_env, argc, argv);
-
 	/* build usage string if it's not provided */
 	if (subcommands && !usagestr[0]) {
 		struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;