diff --git a/src/runtime/node/internal/events/events.ts b/src/runtime/node/internal/events/events.ts
index 20456493..6dd57d18 100644
--- a/src/runtime/node/internal/events/events.ts
+++ b/src/runtime/node/internal/events/events.ts
@@ -31,9 +31,17 @@ import { AsyncResource } from "node:async_hooks";
 // added to it. This is a useful default which helps finding memory leaks.
 let defaultMaxListeners = 10;
 
-const AsyncIteratorPrototype = Object.getPrototypeOf(
-  Object.getPrototypeOf(async function* () {}).prototype,
-);
+const AsyncIteratorPrototype = (() => {
+  try {
+    return (
+      Object.getPrototypeOf(
+        Object.getPrototypeOf(async function* () {}).prototype,
+      ) || Object.prototype
+    );
+  } catch {
+    return Object.prototype;
+  }
+})();
 
 // Inspect (mocked)
 const inspect = (value: any, _opts?: any) => value;
diff --git a/test/events.test.ts b/test/events.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f6e6d569
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/events.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { EventEmitter, on } from "../src/runtime/node/events";
+import { build } from "esbuild";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import { dirname, resolve } from "pathe";
+import { execSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtempSync, rmSync, writeFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+
+const _dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+
+describe("events", () => {
+  it("emits and receives events", () => {
+    const ee = new EventEmitter();
+    const calls: number[] = [];
+    ee.on("test", (val: number) => {
+      calls.push(val);
+    });
+    ee.emit("test", 1);
+    ee.emit("test", 2);
+    expect(calls).toEqual([1, 2]);
+  });
+
+  it("supports async iterator via on()", async () => {
+    const ee = new EventEmitter();
+    const iterator = on(ee, "data");
+
+    expect(typeof iterator[Symbol.asyncIterator]).toBe("function");
+    expect(iterator[Symbol.asyncIterator]()).toBe(iterator);
+    expect(typeof iterator.next).toBe("function");
+    expect(typeof iterator.return).toBe("function");
+    expect(typeof iterator.throw).toBe("function");
+
+    setTimeout(() => {
+      ee.emit("data", "hello");
+      ee.emit("data", "world");
+    }, 10);
+
+    const received: string[] = [];
+    for await (const [val] of iterator) {
+      received.push(val);
+      if (received.length === 2) {
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+
+    expect(received).toEqual(["hello", "world"]);
+  });
+
+  it("can be bundled targeting below ES2018 without crashing on module evaluation", async () => {
+    const tempDir = mkdtempSync(resolve(tmpdir(), "unenv-events-test-"));
+    const entryFile = resolve(tempDir, "entry.mjs");
+    const outFile = resolve(tempDir, "out.mjs");
+
+    const eventsModulePath = resolve(
+      _dirname,
+      "../src/runtime/node/events.ts",
+    ).replace(/\\/g, "/");
+
+    writeFileSync(
+      entryFile,
+      `
+import { EventEmitter, on } from "${eventsModulePath}";
+
+async function run() {
+  const ee = new EventEmitter();
+  let received = null;
+  const iterator = on(ee, "msg");
+
+  if (typeof iterator[Symbol.asyncIterator] !== "function") {
+    throw new Error("Missing Symbol.asyncIterator on iterator");
+  }
+
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    ee.emit("msg", "success");
+  }, 10);
+
+  for await (const [val] of iterator) {
+    received = val;
+    break;
+  }
+
+  if (received !== "success") {
+    throw new Error("Unexpected value: " + received);
+  }
+
+  console.log("ES2015_TEST_PASSED");
+}
+
+run().catch((err) => {
+  console.error(err);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
+`,
+    );
+
+    try {
+      await build({
+        entryPoints: [entryFile],
+        bundle: true,
+        target: "es2015",
+        format: "esm",
+        outfile: outFile,
+        plugins: [
+          {
+            name: "external-node",
+            setup(b) {
+              b.onResolve({ filter: /^node:/ }, (args) => ({
+                path: args.path,
+                external: true,
+              }));
+            },
+          },
+        ],
+      });
+
+      const stdout = execSync(`"${process.execPath}" "${outFile}"`, {
+        encoding: "utf8",
+        timeout: 5000,
+      });
+      expect(stdout).toContain("ES2015_TEST_PASSED");
+    } finally {
+      rmSync(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  });
+});