diff --git a/tools/perf/util/session.c b/tools/perf/util/session.c
index 7350b0dfbc1e..13486bcf74a0 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/session.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/session.c
@@ -2292,6 +2292,7 @@ int perf_session__cpu_bitmap(struct perf_session *session,
 {
 	int i, err = -1;
 	struct perf_cpu_map *map;
+	int nr_cpus = min(session->header.env.nr_cpus_online, MAX_NR_CPUS);
 
 	for (i = 0; i < PERF_TYPE_MAX; ++i) {
 		struct evsel *evsel;
@@ -2316,7 +2317,7 @@ int perf_session__cpu_bitmap(struct perf_session *session,
 	for (i = 0; i < map->nr; i++) {
 		int cpu = map->map[i];
 
-		if (cpu >= MAX_NR_CPUS) {
+		if (cpu >= nr_cpus) {
 			pr_err("Requested CPU %d too large. "
 			       "Consider raising MAX_NR_CPUS\n", cpu);
 			goto out_delete_map;