diff --git a/drivers/perf/riscv_pmu_sbi.c b/drivers/perf/riscv_pmu_sbi.c
index ae16ecb15f2d9b..901da688ea3f8f 100644
--- a/drivers/perf/riscv_pmu_sbi.c
+++ b/drivers/perf/riscv_pmu_sbi.c
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ static int pmu_sbi_ctr_get_idx(struct perf_event *event)
 	 * but not in the user access mode as we want to use the other counters
 	 * that support sampling/filtering.
 	 */
-	if (hwc->flags & PERF_EVENT_FLAG_LEGACY) {
+	if ((hwc->flags & PERF_EVENT_FLAG_LEGACY) && (event->attr.type == PERF_TYPE_HARDWARE)) {
 		if (event->attr.config == PERF_COUNT_HW_CPU_CYCLES) {
 			cflags |= SBI_PMU_CFG_FLAG_SKIP_MATCH;
 			cmask = 1;