diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist-hybrid.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist-hybrid.c
index 7c554234b43d..f39c8ffc5a11 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist-hybrid.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist-hybrid.c
@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ int evlist__fix_hybrid_cpus(struct evlist *evlist, const char *cpu_list)
 		perf_cpu_map__put(matched_cpus);
 		perf_cpu_map__put(unmatched_cpus);
 	}
-
-	ret = (unmatched_count == events_nr) ? -1 : 0;
+	if (events_nr)
+		ret = (unmatched_count == events_nr) ? -1 : 0;
 out:
 	perf_cpu_map__put(cpus);
 	return ret;