diff --git a/tools/vm/page-types.c b/tools/vm/page-types.c
index 1ff3a6c0367b..89063b967b6b 100644
--- a/tools/vm/page-types.c
+++ b/tools/vm/page-types.c
@@ -1341,7 +1341,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	if (opt_list && opt_list_mapcnt)
 		kpagecount_fd = checked_open(PROC_KPAGECOUNT, O_RDONLY);
 
-	if (opt_mark_idle && opt_file)
+	if (opt_mark_idle)
 		page_idle_fd = checked_open(SYS_KERNEL_MM_PAGE_IDLE, O_RDWR);
 
 	if (opt_list && opt_pid)