diff --git a/pkg/cmdprof/cmdprof.go b/pkg/cmdprof/cmdprof.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ab0396d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cmdprof/cmdprof.go
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+// Copyright 2020 syzkaller project authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by Apache 2 LICENSE that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// Package cmdprof simplifies cpu/memory profiling for command line tools. Use as:
+//	flag.Parse()
+//	defer cmdprof.Install()()
+package cmdprof
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"runtime"
+	"runtime/pprof"
+)
+
+var (
+	flagCPUProfile = flag.String("cpuprofile", "", "write CPU profile to this file")
+	flagMEMProfile = flag.String("memprofile", "", "write memory profile to this file")
+)
+
+func Install() func() {
+	res := func() {}
+	failf := func(msg string, args ...interface{}) {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, msg+"\n", args...)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	if *flagCPUProfile != "" {
+		f, err := os.Create(*flagCPUProfile)
+		if err != nil {
+			failf("failed to create cpuprofile file: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := pprof.StartCPUProfile(f); err != nil {
+			failf("failed to start cpu profile: %v", err)
+		}
+		res = func() {
+			pprof.StopCPUProfile()
+			f.Close()
+		}
+	}
+	if *flagMEMProfile != "" {
+		prev := res
+		res = func() {
+			prev()
+			f, err := os.Create(*flagMEMProfile)
+			if err != nil {
+				failf("failed to create memprofile file: %v", err)
+			}
+			defer f.Close()
+			runtime.GC()
+			if err := pprof.WriteHeapProfile(f); err != nil {
+				failf("failed to write mem profile: %v", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return res
+}
diff --git a/sys/syz-sysgen/sysgen.go b/sys/syz-sysgen/sysgen.go
index a424e148..1197a8cc 100644
--- a/sys/syz-sysgen/sysgen.go
+++ b/sys/syz-sysgen/sysgen.go
@@ -13,14 +13,13 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
-	"runtime"
-	"runtime/pprof"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"text/template"
 
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/ast"
+	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/cmdprof"
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/compiler"
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/hash"
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/osutil"
@@ -29,10 +28,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/sys/targets"
 )
 
-var (
-	flagMemProfile = flag.String("memprofile", "", "write a memory profile to the file")
-)
-
 type SyscallData struct {
 	Name     string
 	CallName string
@@ -64,6 +59,7 @@ type ExecutorData struct {
 
 func main() {
 	flag.Parse()
+	defer cmdprof.Install()()
 
 	var OSList []string
 	for OS := range targets.List {
@@ -175,18 +171,6 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	writeExecutorSyscalls(data)
-
-	if *flagMemProfile != "" {
-		f, err := os.Create(*flagMemProfile)
-		if err != nil {
-			failf("could not create memory profile: ", err)
-		}
-		runtime.GC() // get up-to-date statistics
-		if err := pprof.WriteHeapProfile(f); err != nil {
-			failf("could not write memory profile: ", err)
-		}
-		f.Close()
-	}
 }
 
 func generate(target *targets.Target, prg *compiler.Prog, consts map[string]uint64, out io.Writer) {
diff --git a/tools/syz-check/check.go b/tools/syz-check/check.go
index 76a52c50..490a48c3 100644
--- a/tools/syz-check/check.go
+++ b/tools/syz-check/check.go
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
-	"runtime/pprof"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
 	"unsafe"
 
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/ast"
+	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/cmdprof"
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/compiler"
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/osutil"
 	"github.com/google/syzkaller/pkg/symbolizer"
@@ -46,11 +46,9 @@ import (
 
 func main() {
 	var (
-		flagOS         = flag.String("os", runtime.GOOS, "OS")
-		flagCPUProfile = flag.String("cpuprofile", "", "write CPU profile to this file")
-		flagMEMProfile = flag.String("memprofile", "", "write memory profile to this file")
-		flagDWARF      = flag.Bool("dwarf", true, "do checking based on DWARF")
-		flagNetlink    = flag.Bool("netlink", true, "do checking of netlink policies")
+		flagOS      = flag.String("os", runtime.GOOS, "OS")
+		flagDWARF   = flag.Bool("dwarf", true, "do checking based on DWARF")
+		flagNetlink = flag.Bool("netlink", true, "do checking of netlink policies")
 	)
 	arches := map[string]*string{"amd64": nil, "386": nil, "arm64": nil, "arm": nil}
 	for arch := range arches {
@@ -61,30 +59,7 @@ func main() {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 	flag.Parse()
-	if *flagCPUProfile != "" {
-		f, err := os.Create(*flagCPUProfile)
-		if err != nil {
-			failf("failed to create cpuprofile file: %v", err)
-		}
-		defer f.Close()
-		if err := pprof.StartCPUProfile(f); err != nil {
-			failf("failed to start cpu profile: %v", err)
-		}
-		defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
-	}
-	if *flagMEMProfile != "" {
-		defer func() {
-			f, err := os.Create(*flagMEMProfile)
-			if err != nil {
-				failf("failed to create memprofile file: %v", err)
-			}
-			defer f.Close()
-			runtime.GC()
-			if err := pprof.WriteHeapProfile(f); err != nil {
-				failf("failed to write mem profile: %v", err)
-			}
-		}()
-	}
+	defer cmdprof.Install()()
 	var warnings []Warn
 	for arch, obj := range arches {
 		if *obj == "" {