diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c
index a3907c390d67..829511a71222 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_hist.c
@@ -1064,7 +1064,7 @@ timerlat_hist_apply_config(struct osnoise_tool *tool, struct timerlat_hist_param
 	 * If the user did not specify a type of thread, try user-threads first.
 	 * Fall back to kernel threads otherwise.
 	 */
-	if (!params->kernel_workload && !params->user_workload) {
+	if (!params->kernel_workload && !params->user_hist) {
 		retval = tracefs_file_exists(NULL, "osnoise/per_cpu/cpu0/timerlat_fd");
 		if (retval) {
 			debug_msg("User-space interface detected, setting user-threads\n");
diff --git a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
index 210b0f533534..3b62519a412f 100644
--- a/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
+++ b/tools/tracing/rtla/src/timerlat_top.c
@@ -830,7 +830,7 @@ timerlat_top_apply_config(struct osnoise_tool *top, struct timerlat_top_params *
 	 * If the user did not specify a type of thread, try user-threads first.
 	 * Fall back to kernel threads otherwise.
 	 */
-	if (!params->kernel_workload && !params->user_workload) {
+	if (!params->kernel_workload && !params->user_top) {
 		retval = tracefs_file_exists(NULL, "osnoise/per_cpu/cpu0/timerlat_fd");
 		if (retval) {
 			debug_msg("User-space interface detected, setting user-threads\n");