diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c b/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
index 9d9dec21f510..3ed023f4b190 100644
--- a/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
@@ -36,51 +36,90 @@ void perf_evlist__init(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 static void __perf_evlist__propagate_maps(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
 					  struct perf_evsel *evsel)
 {
-	if (evsel->system_wide) {
-		/* System wide: set the cpu map of the evsel to all online CPUs. */
-		perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
-		evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__new_online_cpus();
-	} else if (evlist->has_user_cpus && evsel->is_pmu_core) {
-		/*
-		 * User requested CPUs on a core PMU, ensure the requested CPUs
-		 * are valid by intersecting with those of the PMU.
-		 */
-		perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
-		evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__intersect(evlist->user_requested_cpus, evsel->pmu_cpus);
-
-		/*
-		 * Empty cpu lists would eventually get opened as "any" so remove
-		 * genuinely empty ones before they're opened in the wrong place.
-		 */
-		if (perf_cpu_map__is_empty(evsel->cpus)) {
-			struct perf_evsel *next = perf_evlist__next(evlist, evsel);
-
-			perf_evlist__remove(evlist, evsel);
-			/* Keep idx contiguous */
-			if (next)
-				list_for_each_entry_from(next, &evlist->entries, node)
-					next->idx--;
+	if (perf_cpu_map__is_empty(evsel->cpus)) {
+		if (perf_cpu_map__is_empty(evsel->pmu_cpus)) {
+			/*
+			 * Assume the unset PMU cpus were for a system-wide
+			 * event, like a software or tracepoint.
+			 */
+			evsel->pmu_cpus = perf_cpu_map__new_online_cpus();
 		}
-	} else if (!evsel->pmu_cpus || evlist->has_user_cpus ||
-		(!evsel->requires_cpu && perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu(evlist->user_requested_cpus))) {
-		/*
-		 * The PMU didn't specify a default cpu map, this isn't a core
-		 * event and the user requested CPUs or the evlist user
-		 * requested CPUs have the "any CPU" (aka dummy) CPU value. In
-		 * which case use the user requested CPUs rather than the PMU
-		 * ones.
-		 */
-		perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
-		evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evlist->user_requested_cpus);
-	} else if (evsel->cpus != evsel->pmu_cpus) {
-		/*
-		 * No user requested cpu map but the PMU cpu map doesn't match
-		 * the evsel's. Reset it back to the PMU cpu map.
-		 */
+		if (evlist->has_user_cpus && !evsel->system_wide) {
+			/*
+			 * Use the user CPUs unless the evsel is set to be
+			 * system wide, such as the dummy event.
+			 */
+			evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evlist->user_requested_cpus);
+		} else {
+			/*
+			 * System wide and other modes, assume the cpu map
+			 * should be set to all PMU CPUs.
+			 */
+			evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evsel->pmu_cpus);
+		}
+	}
+	/*
+	 * Avoid "any CPU"(-1) for uncore and PMUs that require a CPU, even if
+	 * requested.
+	 */
+	if (evsel->requires_cpu && perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu(evsel->cpus)) {
 		perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
 		evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evsel->pmu_cpus);
 	}
 
+	/*
+	 * Globally requested CPUs replace user requested unless the evsel is
+	 * set to be system wide.
+	 */
+	if (evlist->has_user_cpus && !evsel->system_wide) {
+		assert(!perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu(evlist->user_requested_cpus));
+		if (!perf_cpu_map__equal(evsel->cpus, evlist->user_requested_cpus)) {
+			perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
+			evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evlist->user_requested_cpus);
+		}
+	}
+
+	/* Ensure cpus only references valid PMU CPUs. */
+	if (!perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu(evsel->cpus) &&
+	    !perf_cpu_map__is_subset(evsel->pmu_cpus, evsel->cpus)) {
+		struct perf_cpu_map *tmp = perf_cpu_map__intersect(evsel->pmu_cpus, evsel->cpus);
+
+		perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
+		evsel->cpus = tmp;
+	}
+
+	/*
+	 * Was event requested on all the PMU's CPUs but the user requested is
+	 * any CPU (-1)? If so switch to using any CPU (-1) to reduce the number
+	 * of events.
+	 */
+	if (!evsel->system_wide &&
+	    !evsel->requires_cpu &&
+	    perf_cpu_map__equal(evsel->cpus, evsel->pmu_cpus) &&
+	    perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu(evlist->user_requested_cpus)) {
+		perf_cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
+		evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evlist->user_requested_cpus);
+	}
+
+	/* Sanity check assert before the evsel is potentially removed. */
+	assert(!evsel->requires_cpu || !perf_cpu_map__has_any_cpu(evsel->cpus));
+
+	/*
+	 * Empty cpu lists would eventually get opened as "any" so remove
+	 * genuinely empty ones before they're opened in the wrong place.
+	 */
+	if (perf_cpu_map__is_empty(evsel->cpus)) {
+		struct perf_evsel *next = perf_evlist__next(evlist, evsel);
+
+		perf_evlist__remove(evlist, evsel);
+		/* Keep idx contiguous */
+		if (next)
+			list_for_each_entry_from(next, &evlist->entries, node)
+				next->idx--;
+
+		return;
+	}
+
 	if (evsel->system_wide) {
 		perf_thread_map__put(evsel->threads);
 		evsel->threads = perf_thread_map__new_dummy();
@@ -98,6 +137,10 @@ static void perf_evlist__propagate_maps(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 
 	evlist->needs_map_propagation = true;
 
+	/* Clear the all_cpus set which will be merged into during propagation. */
+	perf_cpu_map__put(evlist->all_cpus);
+	evlist->all_cpus = NULL;
+
 	list_for_each_entry_safe(evsel, n, &evlist->entries, node)
 		__perf_evlist__propagate_maps(evlist, evsel);
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index bd2d831d5123..fe2073c6b549 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -310,20 +310,18 @@ __add_event(struct list_head *list, int *idx,
 	if (pmu) {
 		is_pmu_core = pmu->is_core;
 		pmu_cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(pmu->cpus);
+		if (perf_cpu_map__is_empty(pmu_cpus))
+			pmu_cpus = cpu_map__online();
 	} else {
 		is_pmu_core = (attr->type == PERF_TYPE_HARDWARE ||
 			       attr->type == PERF_TYPE_HW_CACHE);
 		pmu_cpus = is_pmu_core ? cpu_map__online() : NULL;
 	}
 
-	if (has_user_cpus) {
+	if (has_user_cpus)
 		cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(user_cpus);
-		/* Existing behavior that pmu_cpus matches the given user ones. */
-		perf_cpu_map__put(pmu_cpus);
-		pmu_cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(user_cpus);
-	} else {
+	else
 		cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(pmu_cpus);
-	}
 
 	if (init_attr)
 		event_attr_init(attr);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/stat.c b/tools/perf/util/stat.c
index b0205e99a4c9..50b1a92d16df 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/stat.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/stat.c
@@ -769,8 +769,6 @@ int create_perf_stat_counter(struct evsel *evsel,
 			attr->enable_on_exec = 1;
 	}
 
-	if (target__has_cpu(target) && !target__has_per_thread(target))
-		return evsel__open_per_cpu(evsel, evsel__cpus(evsel), cpu_map_idx);
-
-	return evsel__open_per_thread(evsel, evsel->core.threads);
+	return evsel__open_per_cpu_and_thread(evsel, evsel__cpus(evsel), cpu_map_idx,
+					      evsel->core.threads);
 }