diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/cpumap.c b/tools/lib/perf/cpumap.c
index 23701024e0c0eb..384d5e076ee436 100644
--- a/tools/lib/perf/cpumap.c
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/cpumap.c
@@ -355,17 +355,12 @@ struct perf_cpu_map *perf_cpu_map__merge(struct perf_cpu_map *orig,
 	int i, j, k;
 	struct perf_cpu_map *merged;
 
-	if (!orig && !other)
-		return NULL;
-	if (!orig) {
-		perf_cpu_map__get(other);
-		return other;
-	}
-	if (!other)
-		return orig;
-	if (orig->nr == other->nr &&
-	    !memcmp(orig->map, other->map, orig->nr * sizeof(struct perf_cpu)))
+	if (perf_cpu_map__is_subset(orig, other))
 		return orig;
+	if (perf_cpu_map__is_subset(other, orig)) {
+		perf_cpu_map__put(orig);
+		return perf_cpu_map__get(other);
+	}
 
 	tmp_len = orig->nr + other->nr;
 	tmp_cpus = malloc(tmp_len * sizeof(struct perf_cpu));