diff --git a/cobalt/base/process/process_metrics_helper.cc b/cobalt/base/process/process_metrics_helper.cc
index 9300ab810362..df20c890cf5c 100644
--- a/cobalt/base/process/process_metrics_helper.cc
+++ b/cobalt/base/process/process_metrics_helper.cc
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ double CalculateCPUUsageSeconds(const std::string& utime_string,
 
 // static
 int ProcessMetricsHelper::GetClockTicksPerS() {
-  return clock_ticks_per_s.load();
+  int result = clock_ticks_per_s.load();
+  return result > 0 ? result : 100;
 }
 
 // static
@@ -104,15 +105,12 @@ void ProcessMetricsHelper::PopulateClockTicksPerS() {
 
 // static
 TimeDelta ProcessMetricsHelper::GetCumulativeCPUUsage() {
-  int ticks_per_s = clock_ticks_per_s.load();
-  if (ticks_per_s == 0) return TimeDelta();
-  return GetCPUUsage(FilePath("/proc/self"), ticks_per_s);
+  return GetCPUUsage(FilePath("/proc/self"), GetClockTicksPerS());
 }
 
 // static
 Value ProcessMetricsHelper::GetCumulativeCPUUsagePerThread() {
-  int ticks_per_s = clock_ticks_per_s.load();
-  if (ticks_per_s == 0) return Value();
+  int ticks_per_s = GetClockTicksPerS();
   ListValue cpu_per_thread;
   FileEnumerator file_enum(FilePath("/proc/self/task"), /*recursive=*/false,
                            FileEnumerator::DIRECTORIES);