diff --git a/spm/common/sp_helpers.c b/spm/common/sp_helpers.c
index a6b6bc5..77031f8 100644
--- a/spm/common/sp_helpers.c
+++ b/spm/common/sp_helpers.c
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright (c) 2018, Arm Limited. All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2018-2021, Arm Limited. All rights reserved.
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
  */
@@ -58,16 +58,25 @@
 	INFO("Test \"%s\" end.\n", test_desc);
 }
 
-void sp_sleep(uint32_t ms)
+uint64_t sp_sleep_elapsed_time(uint32_t ms)
 {
 	uint64_t timer_freq = read_cntfrq_el0();
 
 	VERBOSE("%s: Timer frequency = %llu\n", __func__, timer_freq);
 
 	VERBOSE("%s: Sleeping for %u milliseconds...\n", __func__, ms);
-	uint64_t time1 = read_cntvct_el0();
+
+	uint64_t time1 = virtualcounter_read();
 	volatile uint64_t time2 = time1;
+
 	while ((time2 - time1) < ((ms * timer_freq) / 1000U)) {
-		time2 = read_cntvct_el0();
+		time2 = virtualcounter_read();
 	}
+
+	return ((time2 - time1) * 1000) / timer_freq;
+}
+
+void sp_sleep(uint32_t ms)
+{
+	(void)sp_sleep_elapsed_time(ms);
 }