diff --git a/tools/perf/util/smt.c b/tools/perf/util/smt.c
index 8481842e9edb..20bacd5972ad 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/smt.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/smt.c
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ int smt_on(void)
 	if (cached)
 		return cached_result;
 
+	if (sysfs__read_int("devices/system/cpu/smt/active", &cached_result) > 0)
+		goto done;
+
 	ncpu = sysconf(_SC_NPROCESSORS_CONF);
 	for (cpu = 0; cpu < ncpu; cpu++) {
 		unsigned long long siblings;
@@ -42,6 +45,7 @@ int smt_on(void)
 	}
 	if (!cached) {
 		cached_result = 0;
+done:
 		cached = true;
 	}
 	return cached_result;