diff --git a/arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c b/arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c
index 4866b3f7b4ea..0771c42d02e4 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kvm/arm.c
@@ -1229,6 +1229,21 @@ static bool kvm_vcpu_init_changed(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
 	return !bitmap_equal(vcpu->arch.features, &features, KVM_VCPU_MAX_FEATURES);
 }
 
+static int kvm_setup_vcpu(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu)
+{
+	struct kvm *kvm = vcpu->kvm;
+	int ret = 0;
+
+	/*
+	 * When the vCPU has a PMU, but no PMU is set for the guest
+	 * yet, set the default one.
+	 */
+	if (kvm_vcpu_has_pmu(vcpu) && !kvm->arch.arm_pmu)
+		ret = kvm_arm_set_default_pmu(kvm);
+
+	return ret;
+}
+
 static int __kvm_vcpu_set_target(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
 				 const struct kvm_vcpu_init *init)
 {
@@ -1244,6 +1259,10 @@ static int __kvm_vcpu_set_target(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu,
 
 	bitmap_copy(vcpu->arch.features, &features, KVM_VCPU_MAX_FEATURES);
 
+	ret = kvm_setup_vcpu(vcpu);
+	if (ret)
+		goto out_unlock;
+
 	/* Now we know what it is, we can reset it. */
 	ret = kvm_reset_vcpu(vcpu);
 	if (ret) {
diff --git a/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c b/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c
index fb9817bdfeb5..1eb02765dd14 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/kvm/pmu-emul.c
@@ -717,10 +717,9 @@ static struct arm_pmu *kvm_pmu_probe_armpmu(void)
 	 * It is still necessary to get a valid cpu, though, to probe for the
 	 * default PMU instance as userspace is not required to specify a PMU
 	 * type. In order to uphold the preexisting behavior KVM selects the
-	 * PMU instance for the core where the first call to the
-	 * KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3_CTRL attribute group occurs. A dependent use case
-	 * would be a user with disdain of all things big.LITTLE that affines
-	 * the VMM to a particular cluster of cores.
+	 * PMU instance for the core during vcpu init. A dependent use
+	 * case would be a user with disdain of all things big.LITTLE that
+	 * affines the VMM to a particular cluster of cores.
 	 *
 	 * In any case, userspace should just do the sane thing and use the UAPI
 	 * to select a PMU type directly. But, be wary of the baggage being
@@ -893,7 +892,7 @@ static void kvm_arm_set_pmu(struct kvm *kvm, struct arm_pmu *arm_pmu)
  * where vCPUs can be scheduled on any core but the guest
  * counters could stop working.
  */
-static int kvm_arm_set_default_pmu(struct kvm *kvm)
+int kvm_arm_set_default_pmu(struct kvm *kvm)
 {
 	struct arm_pmu *arm_pmu = kvm_pmu_probe_armpmu();
 
@@ -946,13 +945,6 @@ int kvm_arm_pmu_v3_set_attr(struct kvm_vcpu *vcpu, struct kvm_device_attr *attr)
 	if (vcpu->arch.pmu.created)
 		return -EBUSY;
 
-	if (!kvm->arch.arm_pmu) {
-		int ret = kvm_arm_set_default_pmu(kvm);
-
-		if (ret)
-			return ret;
-	}
-
 	switch (attr->attr) {
 	case KVM_ARM_VCPU_PMU_V3_IRQ: {
 		int __user *uaddr = (int __user *)(long)attr->addr;
diff --git a/include/kvm/arm_pmu.h b/include/kvm/arm_pmu.h
index 31029f4f7be8..b80c75d80886 100644
--- a/include/kvm/arm_pmu.h
+++ b/include/kvm/arm_pmu.h
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ void kvm_vcpu_pmu_resync_el0(void);
 })
 
 u8 kvm_arm_pmu_get_pmuver_limit(void);
+int kvm_arm_set_default_pmu(struct kvm *kvm);
 
 #else
 struct kvm_pmu {
@@ -174,6 +175,11 @@ static inline u8 kvm_arm_pmu_get_pmuver_limit(void)
 }
 static inline void kvm_vcpu_pmu_resync_el0(void) {}
 
+static inline int kvm_arm_set_default_pmu(struct kvm *kvm)
+{
+	return -ENODEV;
+}
+
 #endif
 
 #endif