diff --git a/lib/sbi/sbi_pmu.c b/lib/sbi/sbi_pmu.c
index f28c9f5e..939f29d8 100644
--- a/lib/sbi/sbi_pmu.c
+++ b/lib/sbi/sbi_pmu.c
@@ -736,10 +736,15 @@ int sbi_pmu_ctr_cfg_match(unsigned long cidx_base, unsigned long cidx_mask,
 		/* The caller wants to skip the match because it already knows the
 		 * counter idx for the given event. Verify that the counter idx
 		 * is still valid.
+		 * As per the specification, we should "unconditionally select
+		 * the first counter from the set of counters specified by the
+		 * counter_idx_base and counter_idx_mask".
 		 */
-		if (active_events[hartid][cidx_base] == SBI_PMU_EVENT_IDX_INVALID)
+		unsigned long cidx_first = cidx_base + sbi_ffs(cidx_mask);
+
+		if (active_events[hartid][cidx_first] == SBI_PMU_EVENT_IDX_INVALID)
 			return SBI_EINVAL;
-		ctr_idx = cidx_base;
+		ctr_idx = cidx_first;
 		goto skip_match;
 	}