diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c b/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
index 9a6801b53274..e6c98a6e3908 100644
--- a/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/evlist.c
@@ -52,8 +52,11 @@ static void __perf_evlist__propagate_maps(struct perf_evlist *evlist,
 		evsel->cpus = perf_cpu_map__get(evsel->own_cpus);
 	}
 
-	perf_thread_map__put(evsel->threads);
-	evsel->threads = perf_thread_map__get(evlist->threads);
+	if (!evsel->system_wide) {
+		perf_thread_map__put(evsel->threads);
+		evsel->threads = perf_thread_map__get(evlist->threads);
+	}
+
 	evlist->all_cpus = perf_cpu_map__merge(evlist->all_cpus, evsel->cpus);
 }