diff --git a/usr.sbin/pmcstat/pmcstat.c b/usr.sbin/pmcstat/pmcstat.c
--- a/usr.sbin/pmcstat/pmcstat.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pmcstat/pmcstat.c
@@ -1187,8 +1187,7 @@
 	 */
 
 	STAILQ_FOREACH(ev, &args.pa_events, ev_next) {
-		if (ev->ev_pmcid == PMC_ID_INVALID &&
-		    pmc_allocate(ev->ev_spec, ev->ev_mode,
+		if (pmc_allocate(ev->ev_spec, ev->ev_mode,
 			ev->ev_flags, ev->ev_cpu, &ev->ev_pmcid,
 			ev->ev_count) < 0)
 			err(EX_OSERR,