diff --git a/tools/perf/arch/arm/util/cs-etm.c b/tools/perf/arch/arm/util/cs-etm.c
index 12b28562c2f3..dc3f4e86b075 100644
--- a/tools/perf/arch/arm/util/cs-etm.c
+++ b/tools/perf/arch/arm/util/cs-etm.c
@@ -103,13 +103,14 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_context_id(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel
 				      struct perf_cpu cpu)
 {
 	int err;
-	__u64 val;
-	u64 contextid = evsel->core.attr.config &
-		(perf_pmu__format_bits(cs_etm_pmu, "contextid") |
-		 perf_pmu__format_bits(cs_etm_pmu, "contextid1") |
-		 perf_pmu__format_bits(cs_etm_pmu, "contextid2"));
+	u64 ctxt, ctxt1, ctxt2;
+	__u64 trcidr2;
 
-	if (!contextid)
+	evsel__get_config_val(evsel, "contextid", &ctxt);
+	evsel__get_config_val(evsel, "contextid1", &ctxt1);
+	evsel__get_config_val(evsel, "contextid2", &ctxt2);
+
+	if (!ctxt && !ctxt1 && !ctxt2)
 		return 0;
 
 	/* Not supported in etmv3 */
@@ -120,12 +121,11 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_context_id(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel
 	}
 
 	/* Get a handle on TRCIDR2 */
-	err = cs_etm_get_ro(cs_etm_pmu, cpu, metadata_etmv4_ro[CS_ETMV4_TRCIDR2], &val);
+	err = cs_etm_get_ro(cs_etm_pmu, cpu, metadata_etmv4_ro[CS_ETMV4_TRCIDR2], &trcidr2);
 	if (err)
 		return err;
 
-	if (contextid &
-	    perf_pmu__format_bits(cs_etm_pmu, "contextid1")) {
+	if (ctxt1) {
 		/*
 		 * TRCIDR2.CIDSIZE, bit [9-5], indicates whether contextID
 		 * tracing is supported:
@@ -133,15 +133,14 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_context_id(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel
 		 *  0b00100 Maximum of 32-bit Context ID size.
 		 *  All other values are reserved.
 		 */
-		if (BMVAL(val, 5, 9) != 0x4) {
+		if (BMVAL(trcidr2, 5, 9) != 0x4) {
 			pr_err("%s: CONTEXTIDR_EL1 isn't supported, disable with %s/contextid1=0/\n",
 			       CORESIGHT_ETM_PMU_NAME, CORESIGHT_ETM_PMU_NAME);
 			return -EINVAL;
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (contextid &
-	    perf_pmu__format_bits(cs_etm_pmu, "contextid2")) {
+	if (ctxt2) {
 		/*
 		 * TRCIDR2.VMIDOPT[30:29] != 0 and
 		 * TRCIDR2.VMIDSIZE[14:10] == 0b00100 (32bit virtual contextid)
@@ -149,7 +148,7 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_context_id(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel
 		 * virtual context id is < 32bit.
 		 * Any value of VMIDSIZE >= 4 (i.e, > 32bit) is fine for us.
 		 */
-		if (!BMVAL(val, 29, 30) || BMVAL(val, 10, 14) < 4) {
+		if (!BMVAL(trcidr2, 29, 30) || BMVAL(trcidr2, 10, 14) < 4) {
 			pr_err("%s: CONTEXTIDR_EL2 isn't supported, disable with %s/contextid2=0/\n",
 			       CORESIGHT_ETM_PMU_NAME, CORESIGHT_ETM_PMU_NAME);
 			return -EINVAL;
@@ -163,10 +162,11 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_timestamp(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel *
 				     struct perf_cpu cpu)
 {
 	int err;
-	__u64 val;
+	u64 val;
+	__u64 trcidr0;
 
-	if (!(evsel->core.attr.config &
-	      perf_pmu__format_bits(cs_etm_pmu, "timestamp")))
+	evsel__get_config_val(evsel, "timestamp", &val);
+	if (!val)
 		return 0;
 
 	if (cs_etm_get_version(cs_etm_pmu, cpu) == CS_ETMV3) {
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_timestamp(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel *
 	}
 
 	/* Get a handle on TRCIRD0 */
-	err = cs_etm_get_ro(cs_etm_pmu, cpu, metadata_etmv4_ro[CS_ETMV4_TRCIDR0], &val);
+	err = cs_etm_get_ro(cs_etm_pmu, cpu, metadata_etmv4_ro[CS_ETMV4_TRCIDR0], &trcidr0);
 	if (err)
 		return err;
 
@@ -187,10 +187,9 @@ static int cs_etm_validate_timestamp(struct perf_pmu *cs_etm_pmu, struct evsel *
 	 *  0b00110 Implementation supports a maximum timestamp of 48bits.
 	 *  0b01000 Implementation supports a maximum timestamp of 64bits.
 	 */
-	val &= GENMASK(28, 24);
-	if (!val) {
+	trcidr0 &= GENMASK(28, 24);
+	if (!trcidr0)
 		return -EINVAL;
-	}
 
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -273,16 +272,19 @@ static int cs_etm_parse_snapshot_options(struct auxtrace_record *itr,
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/*
+ * If the sink name format "@sink_name" is used, lookup the sink by name to convert to
+ * "sinkid=sink_hash" format. If the user has already manually provided a hash then
+ * "sinkid" isn't overwritten. If neither are provided then the driver will pick the best
+ * sink.
+ */
 static int cs_etm_set_sink_attr(struct perf_pmu *pmu,
 				struct evsel *evsel)
 {
 	char msg[BUFSIZ], path[PATH_MAX], *sink;
 	struct evsel_config_term *term;
-	int ret = -EINVAL;
 	u32 hash;
-
-	if (evsel->core.attr.config2 & GENMASK(31, 0))
-		return 0;
+	int ret;
 
 	list_for_each_entry(term, &evsel->config_terms, list) {
 		if (term->type != EVSEL__CONFIG_TERM_DRV_CFG)
@@ -305,14 +307,10 @@ static int cs_etm_set_sink_attr(struct perf_pmu *pmu,
 			return ret;
 		}
 
-		evsel->core.attr.config2 |= hash;
+		evsel__set_config_if_unset(evsel, "sinkid", hash);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	/*
-	 * No sink was provided on the command line - allow the CoreSight
-	 * system to look for a default
-	 */
 	return 0;
 }