diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c b/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
index 22f8a00446e1f1b3cb6b447dbc1bc21ccfda3108..6b3250f542400ed76eacb169dff1841d7a260e55 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/code-reading.c
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ static int do_test_code_reading(bool try_kcore)
 	if (evlist) {
 		perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	} else {
-		cpu_map__delete(cpus);
+		cpu_map__put(cpus);
 		thread_map__delete(threads);
 	}
 	machines__destroy_kernel_maps(&machines);
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c b/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c
index 5b171d1e338bdd26bcf1343f58e8b0bdb314b71c..a330235cefc0956df295c840c77c59bcf00dedfe 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/keep-tracking.c
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ int test__keep_tracking(void)
 		perf_evlist__disable(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	} else {
-		cpu_map__delete(cpus);
+		cpu_map__put(cpus);
 		thread_map__delete(threads);
 	}
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c b/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c
index 5855cf47121003479ae63e859059a5ad8809c5ec..5a9ef5833452c4edcd9211d09ac828d3f70f62ed 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/mmap-basic.c
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ int test__basic_mmap(void)
 	cpus	= NULL;
 	threads = NULL;
 out_free_cpus:
-	cpu_map__delete(cpus);
+	cpu_map__put(cpus);
 out_free_threads:
 	thread_map__delete(threads);
 	return err;
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/switch-tracking.c b/tools/perf/tests/switch-tracking.c
index 0d31403ea593c7d2e689056af1670a18423a39ed..1b06122beb76c165a1b80279ddc75abead6c8502 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/switch-tracking.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/switch-tracking.c
@@ -560,7 +560,7 @@ int test__switch_tracking(void)
 		perf_evlist__disable(evlist);
 		perf_evlist__delete(evlist);
 	} else {
-		cpu_map__delete(cpus);
+		cpu_map__put(cpus);
 		thread_map__delete(threads);
 	}
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c b/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c
index c4e55b71010c6b52f2be7bc6c3af053c6f4183d0..3667e2123e5b44414a483c23b239e61b955dd7f7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cpumap.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include "asm/bug.h"
 
 static struct cpu_map *cpu_map__default_new(void)
 {
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ static struct cpu_map *cpu_map__default_new(void)
 			cpus->map[i] = i;
 
 		cpus->nr = nr_cpus;
+		atomic_set(&cpus->refcnt, 1);
 	}
 
 	return cpus;
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ static struct cpu_map *cpu_map__trim_new(int nr_cpus, int *tmp_cpus)
 	if (cpus != NULL) {
 		cpus->nr = nr_cpus;
 		memcpy(cpus->map, tmp_cpus, payload_size);
+		atomic_set(&cpus->refcnt, 1);
 	}
 
 	return cpus;
@@ -194,14 +197,32 @@ struct cpu_map *cpu_map__dummy_new(void)
 	if (cpus != NULL) {
 		cpus->nr = 1;
 		cpus->map[0] = -1;
+		atomic_set(&cpus->refcnt, 1);
 	}
 
 	return cpus;
 }
 
-void cpu_map__delete(struct cpu_map *map)
+static void cpu_map__delete(struct cpu_map *map)
 {
-	free(map);
+	if (map) {
+		WARN_ONCE(atomic_read(&map->refcnt) != 0,
+			  "cpu_map refcnt unbalanced\n");
+		free(map);
+	}
+}
+
+struct cpu_map *cpu_map__get(struct cpu_map *map)
+{
+	if (map)
+		atomic_inc(&map->refcnt);
+	return map;
+}
+
+void cpu_map__put(struct cpu_map *map)
+{
+	if (map && atomic_dec_and_test(&map->refcnt))
+		cpu_map__delete(map);
 }
 
 int cpu_map__get_socket(struct cpu_map *map, int idx)
@@ -263,6 +284,7 @@ static int cpu_map__build_map(struct cpu_map *cpus, struct cpu_map **res,
 	/* ensure we process id in increasing order */
 	qsort(c->map, c->nr, sizeof(int), cmp_ids);
 
+	atomic_set(&cpus->refcnt, 1);
 	*res = c;
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/cpumap.h b/tools/perf/util/cpumap.h
index 61a6548490025e209f6232293578e662e62d610a..0af9cecb4c519d44da13d392baa9abca37ebe6ec 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/cpumap.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/cpumap.h
@@ -3,18 +3,19 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
+#include <linux/atomic.h>
 
 #include "perf.h"
 #include "util/debug.h"
 
 struct cpu_map {
+	atomic_t refcnt;
 	int nr;
 	int map[];
 };
 
 struct cpu_map *cpu_map__new(const char *cpu_list);
 struct cpu_map *cpu_map__dummy_new(void);
-void cpu_map__delete(struct cpu_map *map);
 struct cpu_map *cpu_map__read(FILE *file);
 size_t cpu_map__fprintf(struct cpu_map *map, FILE *fp);
 int cpu_map__get_socket(struct cpu_map *map, int idx);
@@ -22,6 +23,9 @@ int cpu_map__get_core(struct cpu_map *map, int idx);
 int cpu_map__build_socket_map(struct cpu_map *cpus, struct cpu_map **sockp);
 int cpu_map__build_core_map(struct cpu_map *cpus, struct cpu_map **corep);
 
+struct cpu_map *cpu_map__get(struct cpu_map *map);
+void cpu_map__put(struct cpu_map *map);
+
 static inline int cpu_map__socket(struct cpu_map *sock, int s)
 {
 	if (!sock || s > sock->nr || s < 0)
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
index d29df901be3e1b629e0944900db21d4498ff67db..59498f7b3e9b0ac688f9ad0e539792944f2f6854 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evlist.c
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ void perf_evlist__delete(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 {
 	perf_evlist__munmap(evlist);
 	perf_evlist__close(evlist);
-	cpu_map__delete(evlist->cpus);
+	cpu_map__put(evlist->cpus);
 	thread_map__delete(evlist->threads);
 	evlist->cpus = NULL;
 	evlist->threads = NULL;
@@ -1353,7 +1353,7 @@ static int perf_evlist__create_syswide_maps(struct perf_evlist *evlist)
 out:
 	return err;
 out_free_cpus:
-	cpu_map__delete(evlist->cpus);
+	cpu_map__put(evlist->cpus);
 	evlist->cpus = NULL;
 	goto out;
 }
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index 1b56047af96b0078a255773ee6ae62bf73827fd6..31b0afb6882579053ea68ccfb32f1b61f6f09bf9 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -885,6 +885,7 @@ void perf_evsel__exit(struct perf_evsel *evsel)
 	perf_evsel__free_fd(evsel);
 	perf_evsel__free_id(evsel);
 	close_cgroup(evsel->cgrp);
+	cpu_map__put(evsel->cpus);
 	zfree(&evsel->group_name);
 	zfree(&evsel->name);
 	perf_evsel__object.fini(evsel);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
index 2a4d1ec028464757d6723bbd08c2d0ce0a010a14..09f8d23571082ef6698f37eefcd8f9d9815f1fdc 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/parse-events.c
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 #include "parse-events-flex.h"
 #include "pmu.h"
 #include "thread_map.h"
+#include "cpumap.h"
 #include "asm/bug.h"
 
 #define MAX_NAME_LEN 100
@@ -285,7 +286,9 @@ __add_event(struct list_head *list, int *idx,
 	if (!evsel)
 		return NULL;
 
-	evsel->cpus = cpus;
+	if (cpus)
+		evsel->cpus = cpu_map__get(cpus);
+
 	if (name)
 		evsel->name = strdup(name);
 	list_add_tail(&evsel->node, list);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/python.c b/tools/perf/util/python.c
index d906d0ad5d40a34b49955ad9571130b1f93c7dc3..b106d56df24041c28e70deead7655278c71cdd5a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/python.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/python.c
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ static int pyrf_cpu_map__init(struct pyrf_cpu_map *pcpus,
 
 static void pyrf_cpu_map__delete(struct pyrf_cpu_map *pcpus)
 {
-	cpu_map__delete(pcpus->cpus);
+	cpu_map__put(pcpus->cpus);
 	pcpus->ob_type->tp_free((PyObject*)pcpus);
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/record.c b/tools/perf/util/record.c
index d457c523a33d8bb7d00669dbd09e589eecf6de4b..1f7becbe5e182a4f560dd5f435148d302a5aa787 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/record.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/record.c
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ static bool perf_probe_api(setup_probe_fn_t fn)
 	if (!cpus)
 		return false;
 	cpu = cpus->map[0];
-	cpu_map__delete(cpus);
+	cpu_map__put(cpus);
 
 	do {
 		ret = perf_do_probe_api(fn, cpu, try[i++]);
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ bool perf_evlist__can_select_event(struct perf_evlist *evlist, const char *str)
 		struct cpu_map *cpus = cpu_map__new(NULL);
 
 		cpu =  cpus ? cpus->map[0] : 0;
-		cpu_map__delete(cpus);
+		cpu_map__put(cpus);
 	} else {
 		cpu = evlist->cpus->map[0];
 	}
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/session.c b/tools/perf/util/session.c
index b5549b58bb2bc5aba897290526973658f41db26a..ed9dc2555ec7277d01560c1133718e1066dc5630 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/session.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/session.c
@@ -1895,7 +1895,7 @@ int perf_session__cpu_bitmap(struct perf_session *session,
 	err = 0;
 
 out_delete_map:
-	cpu_map__delete(map);
+	cpu_map__put(map);
 	return err;
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/svghelper.c b/tools/perf/util/svghelper.c
index 283d3e73e2f23a66b007dd04790f3c3a1dd486e8..eec6c1149f44758ebe22c37fb07cd4cd6fd0aef7 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/svghelper.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/svghelper.c
@@ -748,7 +748,7 @@ static int str_to_bitmap(char *s, cpumask_t *b)
 		set_bit(c, cpumask_bits(b));
 	}
 
-	cpu_map__delete(m);
+	cpu_map__put(m);
 
 	return ret;
 }