diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c
index 3cb937c17ce0..082611bd2fb3 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_hist.c
@@ -6423,13 +6423,15 @@ static int event_hist_trigger_func(struct event_command *cmd_ops,
 	if (get_named_trigger_data(trigger_data))
 		goto enable;
 
-	if (has_hist_vars(hist_data))
-		save_hist_vars(hist_data);
-
 	ret = create_actions(hist_data);
 	if (ret)
 		goto out_unreg;
 
+	if (has_hist_vars(hist_data) || hist_data->n_var_refs) {
+		if (save_hist_vars(hist_data))
+			goto out_unreg;
+	}
+
 	ret = tracing_map_init(hist_data->map);
 	if (ret)
 		goto out_unreg;