diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/maps.c b/tools/perf/tests/maps.c
index 1c7293476acad..a6278f9c8b713 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/maps.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/maps.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ static int check_maps(struct map_def *merged, unsigned int size, struct maps *ma
 			if (map__start(map) != merged[i].start ||
 			    map__end(map) != merged[i].end ||
 			    strcmp(map__dso(map)->name, merged[i].name) ||
-			    refcount_read(&map->refcnt) != 1) {
+			    refcount_read(map__refcnt(map)) != 1) {
 				failed = true;
 			}
 			i++;
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ static int check_maps(struct map_def *merged, unsigned int size, struct maps *ma
 				map__start(map),
 				map__end(map),
 				map__dso(map)->name,
-				refcount_read(&map->refcnt));
+				refcount_read(map__refcnt(map)));
 		}
 	}
 	return failed ? TEST_FAIL : TEST_OK;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/map.h b/tools/perf/util/map.h
index 102485699aa8d..f89ab7c2d3277 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/map.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/map.h
@@ -97,6 +97,11 @@ static inline bool map__priv(const struct map *map)
 	return map->priv;
 }
 
+static inline refcount_t *map__refcnt(struct map *map)
+{
+	return &map->refcnt;
+}
+
 static inline size_t map__size(const struct map *map)
 {
 	return map__end(map) - map__start(map);