diff --git a/tools/perf/arch/arm64/util/arm-spe.c b/tools/perf/arch/arm64/util/arm-spe.c
index f00d72d087fc..91bb28cad79a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/arch/arm64/util/arm-spe.c
+++ b/tools/perf/arch/arm64/util/arm-spe.c
@@ -428,7 +428,8 @@ static int arm_spe_recording_options(struct auxtrace_record *itr,
 	evlist__for_each_entry_safe(evlist, tmp, evsel) {
 		if (evsel__is_aux_event(evsel)) {
 			arm_spe_setup_evsel(evsel, cpus);
-			if (!evsel__get_config_val(evsel, "discard", &discard_bit))
+			if (evsel__config_exists(evsel, "discard") &&
+			    !evsel__get_config_val(evsel, "discard", &discard_bit))
 				discard = !!discard_bit;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/pmu.c b/tools/perf/tests/pmu.c
index 0ebf2d7b2cb4..d7be9d1c6f52 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/pmu.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/pmu.c
@@ -201,7 +201,8 @@ static int test__pmu_format(struct test_suite *test __maybe_unused, int subtest
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int test__pmu_usr_chgs(struct test_suite *test __maybe_unused, int subtest __maybe_unused)
+static int test__pmu_config_helpers(struct test_suite *test __maybe_unused,
+				    int subtest __maybe_unused)
 {
 	const char *event = "perf-pmu-test/config=15,config1=4,krava02=170,"
 			    "krava03=1,krava11=27,krava12=1/";
@@ -236,6 +237,12 @@ static int test__pmu_usr_chgs(struct test_suite *test __maybe_unused, int subtes
 	}
 	evsel = evlist__first(evlist);
 
+	/* Test evsel__config_exists() */
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL("krava01 should exist",
+			  evsel__config_exists(evsel, "krava01"), true);
+	TEST_ASSERT_EQUAL("krava99 should not exist",
+			  evsel__config_exists(evsel, "krava99"), false);
+
 	/*
 	 * Set via config=15, krava01 bits 0-1
 	 * Set via config1=4, krava11 bit 1
@@ -629,7 +636,7 @@ static struct test_case tests__pmu[] = {
 	TEST_CASE("PMU name combining", name_len),
 	TEST_CASE("PMU name comparison", name_cmp),
 	TEST_CASE("PMU cmdline match", pmu_match),
-	TEST_CASE("PMU user config changes", pmu_usr_chgs),
+	TEST_CASE("PMU config helpers", pmu_config_helpers),
 	{	.name = NULL, }
 };
 
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
index ac92f9e0e5b4..34c03f47a913 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.c
@@ -1399,6 +1399,12 @@ void evsel__set_config_if_unset(struct evsel *evsel, const char *config_name,
 	perf_pmu__format_pack(format->bits, val, vp, /*zero=*/true);
 }
 
+bool evsel__config_exists(const struct evsel *evsel, const char *config_name)
+{
+	struct perf_pmu_format *format = pmu_find_format(&evsel->pmu->format, config_name);
+
+	return format && !bitmap_empty(format->bits, PERF_PMU_FORMAT_BITS);
+}
 
 int evsel__get_config_val(const struct evsel *evsel, const char *config_name,
 			  u64 *val)
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/evsel.h b/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
index 3b12d99f0aa9..8178858d168a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/evsel.h
@@ -589,6 +589,7 @@ void evsel__uniquify_counter(struct evsel *counter);
 	((((src) >> (pos)) & ((1ull << (size)) - 1)) << (63 - ((pos) + (size) - 1)))
 
 u64 evsel__bitfield_swap_branch_flags(u64 value);
+bool evsel__config_exists(const struct evsel *evsel, const char *config_name);
 int evsel__get_config_val(const struct evsel *evsel, const char *config_name,
 			  u64 *val);
 void evsel__set_config_if_unset(struct evsel *evsel, const char *config_name,