diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index ee0fe0dffa71..cca29ededb5b 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -35,7 +35,17 @@ struct perf_evsel *perf_evsel__new(struct perf_event_attr *attr, int idx)
 
 int perf_evsel__alloc_fd(struct perf_evsel *evsel, int ncpus, int nthreads)
 {
+	int cpu, thread;
 	evsel->fd = xyarray__new(ncpus, nthreads, sizeof(int));
+
+	if (evsel->fd) {
+		for (cpu = 0; cpu < ncpus; cpu++) {
+			for (thread = 0; thread < nthreads; thread++) {
+				FD(evsel, cpu, thread) = -1;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	return evsel->fd != NULL ? 0 : -ENOMEM;
 }