diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c b/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c
index b80eee455111..b833b03d7195 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-kmem.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #include "util/cpumap.h"
 
 #include "util/debug.h"
+#include "util/string2.h"
 
 #include <linux/kernel.h>
 #include <linux/rbtree.h>
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
index 275f2d92a7bf..79577b67c898 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-sched.c
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #include "util/thread_map.h"
 #include "util/color.h"
 #include "util/stat.h"
+#include "util/string2.h"
 #include "util/callchain.h"
 #include "util/time-utils.h"
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
index 12b6b15a9675..4ef02e6888ff 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-top.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include "util/cpumap.h"
 #include "util/xyarray.h"
 #include "util/sort.h"
+#include "util/string2.h"
 #include "util/term.h"
 #include "util/intlist.h"
 #include "util/parse-branch-options.h"
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/ctype.c b/tools/perf/util/ctype.c
index 75c0da59c230..f84ecd9e5329 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/ctype.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/ctype.c
@@ -30,12 +30,3 @@ unsigned char sane_ctype[256] = {
 	A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, A, R, R, P, P, 0,		/* 112..127 */
 	/* Nothing in the 128.. range */
 };
-
-const char *graph_dotted_line =
-	"---------------------------------------------------------------------"
-	"---------------------------------------------------------------------"
-	"---------------------------------------------------------------------";
-const char *dots =
-	"....................................................................."
-	"....................................................................."
-	".....................................................................";
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 04c4ed1573cb..4b175166d264 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "debug.h"
 #include "trace-event.h"
 #include "stat.h"
+#include "string2.h"
 #include "memswap.h"
 #include "util/parse-branch-options.h"
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/sane_ctype.h b/tools/perf/util/sane_ctype.h
index a2bb3890864f..c4dce9e3001b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/sane_ctype.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/sane_ctype.h
@@ -2,9 +2,6 @@
 #ifndef _PERF_SANE_CTYPE_H
 #define _PERF_SANE_CTYPE_H
 
-extern const char *graph_dotted_line;
-extern const char *dots;
-
 /* Sane ctype - no locale, and works with signed chars */
 #undef isascii
 #undef isspace
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/string.c b/tools/perf/util/string.c
index d8bfd0c4d2cb..b18884bd673b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/string.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/string.c
@@ -6,6 +6,15 @@
 
 #include "sane_ctype.h"
 
+const char *graph_dotted_line =
+	"---------------------------------------------------------------------"
+	"---------------------------------------------------------------------"
+	"---------------------------------------------------------------------";
+const char *dots =
+	"....................................................................."
+	"....................................................................."
+	".....................................................................";
+
 #define K 1024LL
 /*
  * perf_atoll()
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/string2.h b/tools/perf/util/string2.h
index 4c68a09b97e8..07fd37568543 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/string2.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/string2.h
@@ -6,6 +6,9 @@
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
+extern const char *graph_dotted_line;
+extern const char *dots;
+
 s64 perf_atoll(const char *str);
 char **argv_split(const char *str, int *argcp);
 void argv_free(char **argv);