In one example, a method comprises: receiving assistance data from a location server; classifying a plurality of candidate cells in the assistance data into a first group of candidate cells and a second group of candidate cells, wherein the classification is based on whether a candidate cell transmits position reference signal (PRS) symbols in one or more multimedia broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN) subframes in a positioning occasion, and based on a cyclic prefix (CP) length of the PRS symbols being transmitted by the candidate cell in the positioning occasion; selecting, based on one or more predetermined criteria, one of the first group or the second group of candidate cells to measure the one or more PRS in the positioning occasion; and measuring the one or more PRS from one of the first group or the second group of candidate cells in the positioning occasion to measure PRS measurements.