diff --git a/perfmap.go b/perfmap.go
index c0b68d7..ba061d4 100644
--- a/perfmap.go
+++ b/perfmap.go
@@ -247,7 +247,9 @@ func (m *PerfMap) BufferSize() int {
 
 // Telemetry returns the usage and lost telemetry
 func (m *PerfMap) Telemetry() (usage []uint64, lost []uint64) {
-	if m.usageTelemetry == nil || m.lostTelemetry == nil {
+	m.stateLock.Lock()
+	defer m.stateLock.Unlock()
+	if m.state < initialized || m.usageTelemetry == nil || m.lostTelemetry == nil {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
 	usage = make([]uint64, len(m.usageTelemetry))
diff --git a/ringbuffer.go b/ringbuffer.go
index 72da217..4b4fab7 100644
--- a/ringbuffer.go
+++ b/ringbuffer.go
@@ -183,7 +183,9 @@ func (rb *RingBuffer) BufferSize() int {
 
 // Telemetry returns the usage telemetry
 func (rb *RingBuffer) Telemetry() (usage uint64, ok bool) {
-	if rb.usageTelemetry == nil {
+	rb.stateLock.Lock()
+	defer rb.stateLock.Unlock()
+	if rb.state < initialized || rb.usageTelemetry == nil {
 		return 0, false
 	}
 	// reset to zero, so we return the max value between each collection