diff --git a/tools/perf/pmu-events/jevents.py b/tools/perf/pmu-events/jevents.py
index 712f80d7d071..a7e88332276d 100755
--- a/tools/perf/pmu-events/jevents.py
+++ b/tools/perf/pmu-events/jevents.py
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ class JsonEvent:
     def unit_to_pmu(unit: str) -> Optional[str]:
       """Convert a JSON Unit to Linux PMU name."""
       if not unit:
-        return 'cpu'
+        return 'default_core'
       # Comment brought over from jevents.c:
       # it's not realistic to keep adding these, we need something more scalable ...
       table = {
diff --git a/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c b/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c
index ce4da9b1d115..f5321fbdee79 100644
--- a/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c
+++ b/tools/perf/tests/pmu-events.c
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ struct perf_pmu_test_pmu {
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l1_btb_correct = {
 	.event = {
-		.pmu = "cpu",
+		.pmu = "default_core",
 		.name = "bp_l1_btb_correct",
 		.event = "event=0x8a",
 		.desc = "L1 BTB Correction",
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l1_btb_correct = {
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l2_btb_correct = {
 	.event = {
-		.pmu = "cpu",
+		.pmu = "default_core",
 		.name = "bp_l2_btb_correct",
 		.event = "event=0x8b",
 		.desc = "L2 BTB Correction",
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event bp_l2_btb_correct = {
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event segment_reg_loads_any = {
 	.event = {
-		.pmu = "cpu",
+		.pmu = "default_core",
 		.name = "segment_reg_loads.any",
 		.event = "event=0x6,period=200000,umask=0x80",
 		.desc = "Number of segment register loads",
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event segment_reg_loads_any = {
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event dispatch_blocked_any = {
 	.event = {
-		.pmu = "cpu",
+		.pmu = "default_core",
 		.name = "dispatch_blocked.any",
 		.event = "event=0x9,period=200000,umask=0x20",
 		.desc = "Memory cluster signals to block micro-op dispatch for any reason",
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event dispatch_blocked_any = {
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event eist_trans = {
 	.event = {
-		.pmu = "cpu",
+		.pmu = "default_core",
 		.name = "eist_trans",
 		.event = "event=0x3a,period=200000,umask=0x0",
 		.desc = "Number of Enhanced Intel SpeedStep(R) Technology (EIST) transitions",
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ static const struct perf_pmu_test_event eist_trans = {
 
 static const struct perf_pmu_test_event l3_cache_rd = {
 	.event = {
-		.pmu = "cpu",
+		.pmu = "default_core",
 		.name = "l3_cache_rd",
 		.event = "event=0x40",
 		.desc = "L3 cache access, read",
@@ -391,8 +391,8 @@ static int compare_alias_to_test_event(struct pmu_event_info *alias,
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-
-	if (!is_same(alias->pmu_name, test_event->event.pmu)) {
+	if (!is_same(alias->pmu_name, test_event->event.pmu) &&
+	    !is_same(alias->pmu_name, "default_core")) {
 		pr_debug("testing aliases PMU %s: mismatched pmu_name, %s vs %s\n",
 			  pmu_name, alias->pmu_name, test_event->event.pmu);
 		return -1;
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ static int test__pmu_event_table_core_callback(const struct pmu_event *pe,
 	struct perf_pmu_test_event const **test_event_table;
 	bool found = false;
 
-	if (strcmp(pe->pmu, "cpu"))
+	if (strcmp(pe->pmu, "default_core"))
 		test_event_table = &uncore_events[0];
 	else
 		test_event_table = &core_events[0];
@@ -543,6 +543,7 @@ static int __test_core_pmu_event_aliases(const char *pmu_name, int *count)
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&pmu->caps);
 	INIT_LIST_HEAD(&pmu->list);
 	pmu->name = strdup(pmu_name);
+	pmu->is_core = true;
 
 	pmu->events_table = table;
 	pmu_add_cpu_aliases_table(pmu, table);
diff --git a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
index 502fd58c3ea7..cde33e01959a 100644
--- a/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
+++ b/tools/perf/util/pmu.c
@@ -1747,7 +1747,12 @@ int perf_pmu__for_each_event(struct perf_pmu *pmu, bool skip_duplicate_pmus,
 bool pmu__name_match(const struct perf_pmu *pmu, const char *pmu_name)
 {
 	return !strcmp(pmu->name, pmu_name) ||
-		(pmu->is_uncore && pmu_uncore_alias_match(pmu_name, pmu->name));
+		(pmu->is_uncore && pmu_uncore_alias_match(pmu_name, pmu->name)) ||
+		/*
+		 * jevents and tests use default_core as a marker for any core
+		 * PMU as the PMU name varies across architectures.
+		 */
+	        (pmu->is_core && !strcmp(pmu_name, "default_core"));
 }
 
 bool perf_pmu__is_software(const struct perf_pmu *pmu)