diff --git a/tools/perf/ui/hist.c b/tools/perf/ui/hist.c
index 0a5281fe41d6..6e639b506829 100644
--- a/tools/perf/ui/hist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/ui/hist.c
@@ -472,11 +472,15 @@ int hist_entry__period_snprintf(struct perf_hpp *hpp, struct hist_entry *he,
 		return 0;
 
 	perf_hpp__for_each_format(fmt) {
+		/*
+		 * If there's no field_sep, we still need
+		 * to display initial '  '.
+		 */
 		if (!sep || !first) {
 			ret = scnprintf(hpp->buf, hpp->size, "%s", sep ?: "  ");
 			advance_hpp(hpp, ret);
+		} else
 			first = false;
-		}
 
 		if (color && fmt->color)
 			ret = fmt->color(hpp, he);