diff --git a/tools/perf/util/expr.c b/tools/perf/util/expr.c
index d3997c2b4a90..a346ca590513 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/expr.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/expr.c
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ int expr__add_ref(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, struct metric_ref *ref)
 	 */
 	data_ptr->ref.metric_name = ref->metric_name;
 	data_ptr->ref.metric_expr = ref->metric_expr;
+	data_ptr->ref.counted = false;
 	data_ptr->is_ref = true;
 
 	ret = hashmap__set(&ctx->ids, name, data_ptr,
@@ -133,6 +134,34 @@ int expr__get_id(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *id,
 	return hashmap__find(&ctx->ids, id, (void **)data) ? 0 : -1;
 }
 
+int expr__resolve_id(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *id,
+		     struct expr_id_data **datap)
+{
+	struct expr_id_data *data;
+
+	if (expr__get_id(ctx, id, datap) || !*datap) {
+		pr_debug("%s not found\n", id);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	data = *datap;
+
+	pr_debug2("lookup: is_ref %d, counted %d, val %f: %s\n",
+		  data->is_ref, data->ref.counted, data->val, id);
+
+	if (data->is_ref && !data->ref.counted) {
+		data->ref.counted = true;
+		pr_debug("processing metric: %s ENTRY\n", id);
+		if (expr__parse(&data->val, ctx, data->ref.metric_expr, 1)) {
+			pr_debug("%s failed to count\n", id);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		pr_debug("processing metric: %s EXIT: %f\n", id, data->val);
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 void expr__del_id(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *id)
 {
 	struct expr_id_data *old_val = NULL;
@@ -173,6 +202,8 @@ __expr__parse(double *val, struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *expr,
 	void *scanner;
 	int ret;
 
+	pr_debug2("parsing metric: %s\n", expr);
+
 	ret = expr_lex_init_extra(&scanner_ctx, &scanner);
 	if (ret)
 		return ret;
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/expr.h b/tools/perf/util/expr.h
index 81d04ff7f857..9ed208d93418 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/expr.h
+++ b/tools/perf/util/expr.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ struct expr_id_data {
 		struct {
 			const char *metric_name;
 			const char *metric_expr;
+			bool counted;
 		} ref;
 	};
 
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ int expr__add_id_val(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *id, double val);
 int expr__add_ref(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, struct metric_ref *ref);
 int expr__get_id(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *id,
 		 struct expr_id_data **data);
+int expr__resolve_id(struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx, const char *id,
+		     struct expr_id_data **datap);
 int expr__parse(double *final_val, struct expr_parse_ctx *ctx,
 		const char *expr, int runtime);
 int expr__find_other(const char *expr, const char *one,
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/expr.y b/tools/perf/util/expr.y
index 0d4f5d324be7..d34b370391c6 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/expr.y
+++ b/tools/perf/util/expr.y
@@ -88,11 +88,11 @@ expr:	  NUMBER
 	| ID			{
 					struct expr_id_data *data;
 
-					if (expr__get_id(ctx, $1, &data) || !data) {
-						pr_debug("%s not found\n", $1);
+					if (expr__resolve_id(ctx, $1, &data)) {
 						free($1);
 						YYABORT;
 					}
+
 					$$ = data->val;
 					free($1);
 				}