diff --git a/trace2/tr2_tgt_event.c b/trace2/tr2_tgt_event.c
index 37a3163be1..52f9356c69 100644
--- a/trace2/tr2_tgt_event.c
+++ b/trace2/tr2_tgt_event.c
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ static void event_fmt_prepare(const char *event_name, const char *file,
 
 	jw_object_string(jw, "event", event_name);
 	jw_object_string(jw, "sid", tr2_sid_get());
-	jw_object_string(jw, "thread", ctx->thread_name.buf);
+	jw_object_string(jw, "thread", ctx->thread_name);
 
 	/*
 	 * In brief mode, only emit <time> on these 2 event types.
diff --git a/trace2/tr2_tgt_perf.c b/trace2/tr2_tgt_perf.c
index 8cb792488c..59ca58f862 100644
--- a/trace2/tr2_tgt_perf.c
+++ b/trace2/tr2_tgt_perf.c
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ static void perf_fmt_prepare(const char *event_name,
 
 	strbuf_addf(buf, "d%d | ", tr2_sid_depth());
 	strbuf_addf(buf, "%-*s | %-*s | ", TR2_MAX_THREAD_NAME,
-		    ctx->thread_name.buf, TR2FMT_PERF_MAX_EVENT_NAME,
+		    ctx->thread_name, TR2FMT_PERF_MAX_EVENT_NAME,
 		    event_name);
 
 	len = buf->len + TR2FMT_PERF_REPO_WIDTH;
diff --git a/trace2/tr2_tls.c b/trace2/tr2_tls.c
index 4f7c516ecb..3a67532aae 100644
--- a/trace2/tr2_tls.c
+++ b/trace2/tr2_tls.c
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ struct tr2tls_thread_ctx *tr2tls_create_self(const char *thread_base_name,
 					     uint64_t us_thread_start)
 {
 	struct tr2tls_thread_ctx *ctx = xcalloc(1, sizeof(*ctx));
+	struct strbuf buf = STRBUF_INIT;
 
 	/*
 	 * Implicitly "tr2tls_push_self()" to capture the thread's start
@@ -47,12 +48,13 @@ struct tr2tls_thread_ctx *tr2tls_create_self(const char *thread_base_name,
 
 	ctx->thread_id = tr2tls_locked_increment(&tr2_next_thread_id);
 
-	strbuf_init(&ctx->thread_name, 0);
+	strbuf_init(&buf, 0);
 	if (ctx->thread_id)
-		strbuf_addf(&ctx->thread_name, "th%02d:", ctx->thread_id);
-	strbuf_addstr(&ctx->thread_name, thread_base_name);
-	if (ctx->thread_name.len > TR2_MAX_THREAD_NAME)
-		strbuf_setlen(&ctx->thread_name, TR2_MAX_THREAD_NAME);
+		strbuf_addf(&buf, "th%02d:", ctx->thread_id);
+	strbuf_addstr(&buf, thread_base_name);
+	if (buf.len > TR2_MAX_THREAD_NAME)
+		strbuf_setlen(&buf, TR2_MAX_THREAD_NAME);
+	ctx->thread_name = strbuf_detach(&buf, NULL);
 
 	pthread_setspecific(tr2tls_key, ctx);
 
@@ -95,7 +97,7 @@ void tr2tls_unset_self(void)
 
 	pthread_setspecific(tr2tls_key, NULL);
 
-	strbuf_release(&ctx->thread_name);
+	free((char *)ctx->thread_name);
 	free(ctx->array_us_start);
 	free(ctx);
 }
@@ -113,7 +115,7 @@ void tr2tls_pop_self(void)
 	struct tr2tls_thread_ctx *ctx = tr2tls_get_self();
 
 	if (!ctx->nr_open_regions)
-		BUG("no open regions in thread '%s'", ctx->thread_name.buf);
+		BUG("no open regions in thread '%s'", ctx->thread_name);
 
 	ctx->nr_open_regions--;
 }
diff --git a/trace2/tr2_tls.h b/trace2/tr2_tls.h
index 3ac4380d82..65836b1399 100644
--- a/trace2/tr2_tls.h
+++ b/trace2/tr2_tls.h
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 #define TR2_MAX_THREAD_NAME (24)
 
 struct tr2tls_thread_ctx {
-	struct strbuf thread_name;
+	const char *thread_name;
 	uint64_t *array_us_start;
 	size_t alloc;
 	size_t nr_open_regions; /* plays role of "nr" in ALLOC_GROW */