diff --git a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
index 65681a1a292a5457c712e8780107903e191472c8..bf4ca749d1ac42db783446d4e36e7420dd461b95 100644
--- a/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/builtin-record.c
@@ -1566,7 +1566,8 @@ static struct option __record_options[] = {
 	OPT_BOOLEAN_SET('T', "timestamp", &record.opts.sample_time,
 			&record.opts.sample_time_set,
 			"Record the sample timestamps"),
-	OPT_BOOLEAN('P', "period", &record.opts.period, "Record the sample period"),
+	OPT_BOOLEAN_SET('P', "period", &record.opts.period, &record.opts.period_set,
+			"Record the sample period"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN('n', "no-samples", &record.opts.no_samples,
 		    "don't sample"),
 	OPT_BOOLEAN_SET('N', "no-buildid-cache", &record.no_buildid_cache,
diff --git a/tools/perf/perf.h b/tools/perf/perf.h
index 2357f4ccc9c79d22d4f9d3ad152a2ec2e63482fe..cfe46236a5e5b7d641523e3eb25a3d0acc11eaa4 100644
--- a/tools/perf/perf.h
+++ b/tools/perf/perf.h
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ struct record_opts {
 	bool	     sample_time_set;
 	bool	     sample_cpu;
 	bool	     period;
+	bool	     period_set;
 	bool	     running_time;
 	bool	     full_auxtrace;
 	bool	     auxtrace_snapshot_mode;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index f2f2eaafde6d7db13d45fc84000c7636aba932e2..ff359c9ece2e76c3d15fb8d2acf36e4c3bf8ade6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -971,9 +971,6 @@ void perf_evsel__config(struct perf_evsel *evsel, struct record_opts *opts,
 	if (target__has_cpu(&opts->target) || opts->sample_cpu)
 		perf_evsel__set_sample_bit(evsel, CPU);
 
-	if (opts->period)
-		perf_evsel__set_sample_bit(evsel, PERIOD);
-
 	/*
 	 * When the user explicitly disabled time don't force it here.
 	 */
@@ -1075,6 +1072,14 @@ void perf_evsel__config(struct perf_evsel *evsel, struct record_opts *opts,
 	apply_config_terms(evsel, opts, track);
 
 	evsel->ignore_missing_thread = opts->ignore_missing_thread;
+
+	/* The --period option takes the precedence. */
+	if (opts->period_set) {
+		if (opts->period)
+			perf_evsel__set_sample_bit(evsel, PERIOD);
+		else
+			perf_evsel__reset_sample_bit(evsel, PERIOD);
+	}
 }
 
 static int perf_evsel__alloc_fd(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int ncpus, int nthreads)