diff --git a/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/simple_validator.py b/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/simple_validator.py
index f0030391a40344..0cf3ee0511f5b2 100644
--- a/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/simple_validator.py
+++ b/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/simple_validator.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 # found in the LICENSE file.
 """
-Validates the rendering/frame_times metric.
+Implementation for simple validators defined in simple_configs.pyl.
 """
 
 import sys
@@ -25,13 +25,10 @@ def CheckConfig(simple_config):
                     (name, CONFIG_FORMAT))
 
 
-def GetHistogram(histogram_set, name, metric, version):
+def OptionalGetHistogram(histogram_set, name, metric, version):
   hists = histogram_set.GetHistogramsNamed(name)
   if len(hists) == 0:
-    msg = ('List of histograms produced by TBM%s metric %s:\n' %
-           (version, metric))
-    msg += '\n'.join([h.name for h in histogram_set])
-    raise Exception('Histogram %s not found.\n%s' % (name, msg))
+    return None
   if len(hists) > 1:
     raise Exception('Multiple histograms named %s found for TBM%s metric %s' %
                     (name, version, metric))
@@ -60,8 +57,21 @@ def CompareHistograms(test_ctx):
       raise Exception('v3_histogram must be either string of v3_histogram '
                       ' name of (v3_hist_name, precision) tuple.')
 
-    v2_hist = GetHistogram(v2_histograms, v2_hist_name, v2_metric, 'v2')
-    v3_hist = GetHistogram(v3_histograms, v3_hist_name, v3_metric, 'v3')
+    v2_hist = OptionalGetHistogram(v2_histograms, v2_hist_name, v2_metric, 'v2')
+    v3_hist = OptionalGetHistogram(v3_histograms, v3_hist_name, v3_metric, 'v3')
+
+    if (v2_hist is None) or (v2_hist.num_values == 0):
+      if (v3_hist is not None) and (v3_hist.num_values > 0):
+        raise Exception('v3 metric produced non-empty histogram %s, but '
+                        'equivalent histogram %s is not present or empty '
+                        'in v2 metric' % (v3_hist_name, v2_hist_name))
+      continue
+
+    if v3_hist is None:
+      msg = ('List of histograms produced by v3 metric %s:\n' % (v3_metric))
+      msg += '\n'.join([h.name for h in v3_histograms])
+      raise Exception('Histogram %s not produced by v3 metric\n%s' %
+                      (v3_hist_name, msg))
 
     try:
       utils.AssertHistogramStatsAlmostEqual(test_ctx, v2_hist, v3_hist,
diff --git a/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/utils.py b/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/utils.py
index beb0324f901614..d5d925c8f1bfee 100644
--- a/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/utils.py
+++ b/tools/perf/cli_tools/tbmv3/validators/utils.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 # Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 # found in the LICENSE file.
 
-
 def AssertHistogramStatsAlmostEqual(test_ctx, v2_hist, v3_hist, precision=1e-3):
   """Asserts major histogram statistics are close enough.
 
@@ -21,8 +20,9 @@ def AssertHistogramSamplesAlmostEqual(test_ctx,
                                       v2_hist,
                                       v3_hist,
                                       precision=1e-3):
-  v2_samples = v2_hist.sample_values
-  v3_samples = v3_hist.sample_values
+  v2_samples = [s for s in v2_hist.sample_values if s is not None]
+  v3_samples = [s for s in v3_hist.sample_values if s is not None]
+
   test_ctx.assertEqual(len(v2_samples), len(v3_samples))
   v2_samples.sort()
   v3_samples.sort()