diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c b/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c
index 95fd9f671a22..f40a828c9861 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c
@@ -22,10 +22,6 @@ struct perf_pmu_test_event {
 	/* used for matching against events from generated pmu-events.c */
 	struct pmu_event event;
 
-	/* used for matching against event aliases */
-	/* extra events for aliases */
-	const char *alias_str;
-
 	/*
 	 * Note: For when PublicDescription does not exist in the JSON, we
 	 * will have no long_desc in pmu_event.long_desc, but long_desc may
@@ -52,7 +48,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l1_btb_correct = {
 		.desc = "L1 BTB Correction",
 		.topic = "branch",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x8a",
 };
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l2_btb_correct = {
@@ -63,7 +58,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l2_btb_correct = {
 		.desc = "L2 BTB Correction",
 		.topic = "branch",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x8b",
 };
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event segment_reg_loads_any = {
@@ -74,7 +68,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event segment_reg_loads_any = {
 		.desc = "Number of segment register loads",
 		.topic = "other",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x6,period=0x30d40,umask=0x80",
 };
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event dispatch_blocked_any = {
@@ -85,7 +78,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event dispatch_blocked_any = {
 		.desc = "Memory cluster signals to block micro-op dispatch for any reason",
 		.topic = "other",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x9,period=0x30d40,umask=0x20",
 };
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event eist_trans = {
@@ -96,7 +88,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event eist_trans = {
 		.desc = "Number of Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(R) Technology (EIST) transitions",
 		.topic = "other",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x3a,period=0x30d40",
 };
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event l3_cache_rd = {
@@ -108,7 +99,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event l3_cache_rd = {
 		.long_desc = "Attributable Level 3 cache access, read",
 		.topic = "cache",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x40",
 	.alias_long_desc = "Attributable Level 3 cache access, read",
 };
 
@@ -130,7 +120,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event uncore_hisi_ddrc_flux_wcmd = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "hisi_sccl,ddrc",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x2",
 	.matching_pmu = "hisi_sccl1_ddrc2",
 };
 
@@ -142,7 +131,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event unc_cbo_xsnp_response_miss_eviction = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "uncore_cbox",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x22,umask=0x81",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_cbox_0",
 };
 
@@ -154,7 +142,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event uncore_hyphen = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "uncore_cbox",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0xe0",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_cbox_0",
 };
 
@@ -166,7 +153,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event uncore_two_hyph = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "uncore_cbox",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0xc0",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_cbox_0",
 };
 
@@ -178,7 +164,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event uncore_hisi_l3c_rd_hit_cpipe = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "hisi_sccl,l3c",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x7",
 	.matching_pmu = "hisi_sccl3_l3c7",
 };
 
@@ -190,7 +175,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event uncore_imc_free_running_cache_miss = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "uncore_imc_free_running",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x12",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_imc_free_running_0",
 };
 
@@ -202,7 +186,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event uncore_imc_cache_hits = {
 		.topic = "uncore",
 		.pmu = "uncore_imc",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x34",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_imc_0",
 };
 
@@ -226,7 +209,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event sys_ddr_pmu_write_cycles = {
 		.pmu = "uncore_sys_ddr_pmu",
 		.compat = "v8",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "event=0x2b",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_sys_ddr_pmu0",
 };
 
@@ -239,7 +221,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event sys_ccn_pmu_read_cycles = {
 		.pmu = "uncore_sys_ccn_pmu",
 		.compat = "0x01",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "config=0x2c",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_sys_ccn_pmu4",
 };
 
@@ -252,7 +233,6 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event sys_cmn_pmu_hnf_cache_miss = {
 		.pmu = "uncore_sys_cmn_pmu",
 		.compat = "(434|436|43c|43a).*",
 	},
-	.alias_str = "eventid=0x1,type=0x5",
 	.matching_pmu = "uncore_sys_cmn_pmu0",
 };
 
@@ -374,9 +354,9 @@ static int compare_alias_to_test_event(struct pmu_event_info *alias,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	if (!is_same(alias->str, test_event->alias_str)) {
+	if (!is_same(alias->str, test_event->event.event)) {
 		pr_debug("testing aliases PMU %s: mismatched str, %s vs %s\n",
-			  pmu_name, alias->str, test_event->alias_str);
+			  pmu_name, alias->str, test_event->event.event);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index 90a765016f64..8f320d08cf1f 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ static int get_config_terms(const struct parse_events_terms *head_config,
 			    struct list_head *head_terms);
 static int parse_events_terms__copy(const struct parse_events_terms *src,
 				    struct parse_events_terms *dest);
+static int parse_events_terms__to_strbuf(const struct parse_events_terms *terms, struct strbuf *sb);
 
 const struct event_symbol event_symbols_hw[PERF_COUNT_HW_MAX] = {
 	[PERF_COUNT_HW_CPU_CYCLES] = {
@@ -2876,7 +2877,7 @@ void parse_events_terms__delete(struct parse_events_terms *terms)
 	free(terms);
 }
 
-int parse_events_terms__to_strbuf(const struct parse_events_terms *terms, struct strbuf *sb)
+static int parse_events_terms__to_strbuf(const struct parse_events_terms *terms, struct strbuf *sb)
 {
 	struct parse_events_term *term;
 	bool first = true;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
index 8af19dec6a17..ed7b73591139 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.h
@@ -200,7 +200,6 @@ void parse_events_terms__delete(struct parse_events_terms *terms);
 void parse_events_terms__init(struct parse_events_terms *terms);
 void parse_events_terms__exit(struct parse_events_terms *terms);
 int parse_events_terms(struct parse_events_terms *terms, const char *str, FILE *input);
-int parse_events_terms__to_strbuf(const struct parse_events_terms *terms, struct strbuf *sb);
 
 struct parse_events_modifier {
 	u8 precise;	/* Number of repeated 'p' for precision. */
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
index 3d1f975e8db9..102fabfbf1d5 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ struct perf_pmu_alias {
 	 * json events.
 	 */
 	char *topic;
-	/** @terms: Owned list of the original parsed parameters. */
-	struct parse_events_terms terms;
+	/** @terms: Owned copy of the event terms. */
+	char *terms;
 	/**
 	 * @pmu_name: The name copied from the json struct pmu_event. This can
 	 * differ from the PMU name as it won't have suffixes.
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ static void perf_pmu_free_alias(struct perf_pmu_alias *alias)
 	zfree(&alias->long_desc);
 	zfree(&alias->topic);
 	zfree(&alias->pmu_name);
-	parse_events_terms__exit(&alias->terms);
+	zfree(&alias->terms);
 	free(alias);
 }
 
@@ -537,8 +537,8 @@ static int update_alias(const struct pmu_event *pe,
 	assign_str(pe->name, "topic", &data->alias->topic, pe->topic);
 	data->alias->per_pkg = pe->perpkg;
 	if (pe->event) {
-		parse_events_terms__exit(&data->alias->terms);
-		ret = parse_events_terms(&data->alias->terms, pe->event, /*input=*/NULL);
+		zfree(&data->alias->terms);
+		data->alias->terms = strdup(pe->event);
 	}
 	if (!ret && pe->unit) {
 		char *unit;
@@ -590,7 +590,6 @@ static int perf_pmu__new_alias(struct perf_pmu *pmu, const char *name,
 	if (!alias)
 		return -ENOMEM;
 
-	parse_events_terms__init(&alias->terms);
 	alias->scale = 1.0;
 	alias->unit[0] = '\0';
 	alias->per_pkg = perpkg;
@@ -615,11 +614,16 @@ static int perf_pmu__new_alias(struct perf_pmu *pmu, const char *name,
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
 
-	ret = parse_events_terms(&alias->terms, val, val_fd);
-	if (ret) {
-		pr_err("Cannot parse alias %s: %d\n", val, ret);
-		free(alias);
-		return ret;
+	if (!val_fd) {
+		alias->terms = strdup(val);
+	} else {
+		size_t line_len;
+
+		ret = getline(&alias->terms, &line_len, val_fd) < 0 ? -errno : 0;
+		if (ret) {
+			pr_err("Failed to read alias %s\n", name);
+			return ret;
+		}
 	}
 
 	alias->name = strdup(name);
@@ -767,29 +771,21 @@ static int pmu_aliases_parse_eager(struct perf_pmu *pmu, int sysfs_fd)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int pmu_alias_terms(struct perf_pmu_alias *alias, int err_loc, struct list_head *terms)
+static int pmu_alias_terms(struct perf_pmu_alias *alias, struct list_head *terms)
 {
-	struct parse_events_term *term, *cloned;
-	struct parse_events_terms clone_terms;
+	struct parse_events_terms alias_terms;
+	int ret;
 
-	parse_events_terms__init(&clone_terms);
-	list_for_each_entry(term, &alias->terms.terms, list) {
-		int ret = parse_events_term__clone(&cloned, term);
-
-		if (ret) {
-			parse_events_terms__exit(&clone_terms);
-			return ret;
-		}
-		/*
-		 * Weak terms don't override command line options,
-		 * which we don't want for implicit terms in aliases.
-		 */
-		cloned->weak = true;
-		cloned->err_term = cloned->err_val = err_loc;
-		list_add_tail(&cloned->list, &clone_terms.terms);
+	parse_events_terms__init(&alias_terms);
+	ret = parse_events_terms(&alias_terms, alias->terms, /*input=*/NULL);
+	if (ret) {
+		pr_err("Cannot parse '%s' terms '%s': %d\n",
+		       alias->name, alias->terms, ret);
+		parse_events_terms__exit(&alias_terms);
+		return ret;
 	}
-	list_splice_init(&clone_terms.terms, terms);
-	parse_events_terms__exit(&clone_terms);
+	list_splice_init(&alias_terms.terms, terms);
+	parse_events_terms__exit(&alias_terms);
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1813,10 +1809,10 @@ int perf_pmu__check_alias(struct perf_pmu *pmu, struct parse_events_terms *head_
 		alias = pmu_find_alias(pmu, term);
 		if (!alias)
 			continue;
-		ret = pmu_alias_terms(alias, term->err_term, &term->list);
+		ret = pmu_alias_terms(alias, &term->list);
 		if (ret) {
 			parse_events_error__handle(err, term->err_term,
-						strdup("Failure to duplicate terms"),
+						strdup("Failed to parse terms"),
 						NULL);
 			return ret;
 		}
@@ -2036,18 +2032,37 @@ static int sub_non_neg(int a, int b)
 static char *format_alias(char *buf, int len, const struct perf_pmu *pmu,
 			  const struct perf_pmu_alias *alias, bool skip_duplicate_pmus)
 {
+	struct parse_events_terms terms;
 	struct parse_events_term *term;
+	int ret, used;
 	size_t pmu_name_len = pmu_deduped_name_len(pmu, pmu->name,
 						   skip_duplicate_pmus);
-	int used = snprintf(buf, len, "%.*s/%s", (int)pmu_name_len, pmu->name, alias->name);
 
-	list_for_each_entry(term, &alias->terms.terms, list) {
+	/* Paramemterized events have the parameters shown. */
+	if (strstr(alias->terms, "=?")) {
+		/* No parameters. */
+		snprintf(buf, len, "%.*s/%s/", (int)pmu_name_len, pmu->name, alias->name);
+		return buf;
+	}
+
+	parse_events_terms__init(&terms);
+	ret = parse_events_terms(&terms, alias->terms, /*input=*/NULL);
+	if (ret) {
+		pr_err("Failure to parse '%s' terms '%s': %d\n",
+			alias->name, alias->terms, ret);
+		parse_events_terms__exit(&terms);
+		snprintf(buf, len, "%.*s/%s/", (int)pmu_name_len, pmu->name, alias->name);
+		return buf;
+	}
+	used = snprintf(buf, len, "%.*s/%s", (int)pmu_name_len, pmu->name, alias->name);
+
+	list_for_each_entry(term, &terms.terms, list) {
 		if (term->type_val == PARSE_EVENTS__TERM_TYPE_STR)
 			used += snprintf(buf + used, sub_non_neg(len, used),
 					",%s=%s", term->config,
 					term->val.str);
 	}
-
+	parse_events_terms__exit(&terms);
 	if (sub_non_neg(len, used) > 0) {
 		buf[used] = '/';
 		used++;
@@ -2070,7 +2085,6 @@ int perf_pmu__for_each_event(struct perf_pmu *pmu, bool skip_duplicate_pmus,
 		.event_type_desc = "Kernel PMU event",
 	};
 	int ret = 0;
-	struct strbuf sb;
 	struct hashmap_entry *entry;
 	size_t bkt;
 
@@ -2081,7 +2095,6 @@ int perf_pmu__for_each_event(struct perf_pmu *pmu, bool skip_duplicate_pmus,
 	if (perf_pmu__is_drm(pmu))
 		return drm_pmu__for_each_event(pmu, state, cb);
 
-	strbuf_init(&sb, /*hint=*/ 0);
 	pmu_aliases_parse(pmu);
 	pmu_add_cpu_aliases(pmu);
 	hashmap__for_each_entry(pmu->aliases, entry, bkt) {
@@ -2116,16 +2129,14 @@ int perf_pmu__for_each_event(struct perf_pmu *pmu, bool skip_duplicate_pmus,
 		info.desc = event->desc;
 		info.long_desc = event->long_desc;
 		info.encoding_desc = buf + buf_used;
-		parse_events_terms__to_strbuf(&event->terms, &sb);
 		buf_used += snprintf(buf + buf_used, sizeof(buf) - buf_used,
-				"%.*s/%s/", (int)pmu_name_len, info.pmu_name, sb.buf) + 1;
+				"%.*s/%s/", (int)pmu_name_len, info.pmu_name, event->terms) + 1;
+		info.str = event->terms;
 		info.topic = event->topic;
-		info.str = sb.buf;
 		info.deprecated = event->deprecated;
 		ret = cb(state, &info);
 		if (ret)
 			goto out;
-		strbuf_setlen(&sb, /*len=*/ 0);
 	}
 	if (pmu->selectable) {
 		info.name = buf;
@@ -2141,7 +2152,6 @@ int perf_pmu__for_each_event(struct perf_pmu *pmu, bool skip_duplicate_pmus,
 		ret = cb(state, &info);
 	}
 out:
-	strbuf_release(&sb);
 	return ret;
 }
 
@@ -2589,10 +2599,21 @@ const char *perf_pmu__name_from_config(struct perf_pmu *pmu, u64 config)
 	hashmap__for_each_entry(pmu->aliases, entry, bkt) {
 		struct perf_pmu_alias *event = entry->pvalue;
 		struct perf_event_attr attr = {.config = 0,};
+		struct parse_events_terms terms;
+		int ret;
 
-		int ret = perf_pmu__config(pmu, &attr, &event->terms, /*apply_hardcoded=*/true,
-					   /*err=*/NULL);
+		parse_events_terms__init(&terms);
+		ret = parse_events_terms(&terms, event->terms, /*input=*/NULL);
+		if (ret) {
+			pr_debug("Failed to parse '%s' terms '%s': %d\n",
+				event->name, event->terms, ret);
+			parse_events_terms__exit(&terms);
+			continue;
+		}
+		ret = perf_pmu__config(pmu, &attr, &terms, /*apply_hardcoded=*/true,
+				       /*err=*/NULL);
 
+		parse_events_terms__exit(&terms);
 		if (ret == 0 && config == attr.config)
 			return event->name;
 	}