diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index 80ab942..3b9f411 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -1119,7 +1119,8 @@
 
 		evsel->threads = thread_map__get(evlist->threads);
 
-		if (!evsel->cpus || !evsel->threads)
+		if ((evlist->cpus && !evsel->cpus) ||
+		    (evlist->threads && !evsel->threads))
 			return -ENOMEM;
 	}