diff --git a/kernel/events/core.c b/kernel/events/core.c
index 3cfabdf7b942..07ac8596a728 100644
--- a/kernel/events/core.c
+++ b/kernel/events/core.c
@@ -3549,10 +3549,18 @@ static int perf_event_read(struct perf_event *event, bool group)
 			.group = group,
 			.ret = 0,
 		};
-		ret = smp_call_function_single(event->oncpu, __perf_event_read, &data, 1);
-		/* The event must have been read from an online CPU: */
-		WARN_ON_ONCE(ret);
-		ret = ret ? : data.ret;
+		/*
+		 * Purposely ignore the smp_call_function_single() return
+		 * value.
+		 *
+		 * If event->oncpu isn't a valid CPU it means the event got
+		 * scheduled out and that will have updated the event count.
+		 *
+		 * Therefore, either way, we'll have an up-to-date event count
+		 * after this.
+		 */
+		(void)smp_call_function_single(event->oncpu, __perf_event_read, &data, 1);
+		ret = data.ret;
 	} else if (event->state == PERF_EVENT_STATE_INACTIVE) {
 		struct perf_event_context *ctx = event->ctx;
 		unsigned long flags;