diff --git a/drivers/base/arch_topology.c b/drivers/base/arch_topology.c
index 3ebe77566788..8202447eb430 100644
--- a/drivers/base/arch_topology.c
+++ b/drivers/base/arch_topology.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 static DEFINE_PER_CPU(struct scale_freq_data __rcu *, sft_data);
 static struct cpumask scale_freq_counters_mask;
 static bool scale_freq_invariant;
-DEFINE_PER_CPU(unsigned long, capacity_freq_ref) = 1;
+DEFINE_PER_CPU(unsigned long, capacity_freq_ref) = 0;
 EXPORT_PER_CPU_SYMBOL_GPL(capacity_freq_ref);
 
 static bool supports_scale_freq_counters(const struct cpumask *cpus)
@@ -293,13 +293,15 @@ void topology_normalize_cpu_scale(void)
 
 	capacity_scale = 1;
 	for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
-		capacity = raw_capacity[cpu] * per_cpu(capacity_freq_ref, cpu);
+		capacity = raw_capacity[cpu] *
+			   (per_cpu(capacity_freq_ref, cpu) ?: 1);
 		capacity_scale = max(capacity, capacity_scale);
 	}
 
 	pr_debug("cpu_capacity: capacity_scale=%llu\n", capacity_scale);
 	for_each_possible_cpu(cpu) {
-		capacity = raw_capacity[cpu] * per_cpu(capacity_freq_ref, cpu);
+		capacity = raw_capacity[cpu] *
+			   (per_cpu(capacity_freq_ref, cpu) ?: 1);
 		capacity = div64_u64(capacity << SCHED_CAPACITY_SHIFT,
 			capacity_scale);
 		topology_set_cpu_scale(cpu, capacity);