diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-periodic.c b/tools/perf/builtin-periodic.c
index 70a0e2beb3e..060e9099c3b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-periodic.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-periodic.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2011, Code Aurora Forum. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2011-2012, Code Aurora Forum. All rights reserved.
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 and
@@ -194,6 +194,8 @@ static int create_perf_counter(struct perf_setup_s *p)
 	if (p == NULL)
 		return PERF_PERIODIC_ERROR;
 	for (cpu = 0; cpu < cpus->nr; cpu++) {
+		if (((1 << cpu) & cpumask) == 0)
+			continue;
 		p->perf_fd[cpu] = sys_perf_event_open(p->attr, target_pid, cpu,
 					-1, 0);
 		if (p->perf_fd[cpu] < 0)