diff --git a/arch/arm64/src/imx8/imx8_boot.c b/arch/arm64/src/imx8/imx8_boot.c
index 7272b58f07..13bdbdb31d 100644
--- a/arch/arm64/src/imx8/imx8_boot.c
+++ b/arch/arm64/src/imx8/imx8_boot.c
@@ -80,9 +80,15 @@ const struct arm_mmu_config g_mmu_config =
 
 void arm64_el_init(void)
 {
-  write_sysreg(CONFIG_SYS_CLOCK_HW_CYCLES_PER_SEC, cntfrq_el0);
+  uint64_t el = arm64_current_el();
 
-  ARM64_ISB();
+  /* Only in EL3 we can write to cntfrq_el0. */
+
+  if (el == 3)
+    {
+      write_sysreg(CONFIG_SYS_CLOCK_HW_CYCLES_PER_SEC, cntfrq_el0);
+      ARM64_ISB();
+    }
 }
 
 /****************************************************************************