diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index 59af03d..4e3a374 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
 
 static int			fd[MAX_NR_CPUS][MAX_COUNTERS];
 
-static long			default_interval		= 100000;
+static long			default_interval		=      0;
 
 static int			nr_cpus				=      0;
 static unsigned int		page_size;
@@ -730,6 +730,18 @@
 		attrs[0].config = PERF_COUNT_HW_CPU_CYCLES;
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * User specified count overrides default frequency.
+	 */
+	if (default_interval)
+		freq = 0;
+	else if (freq) {
+		default_interval = freq;
+	} else {
+		fprintf(stderr, "frequency and count are zero, aborting\n");
+		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+	}
+
 	for (counter = 0; counter < nr_counters; counter++) {
 		if (attrs[counter].sample_period)
 			continue;