diff --git a/src/scriptworker/client.py b/src/scriptworker/client.py
index 42aa2966..3ba944e3 100644
--- a/src/scriptworker/client.py
+++ b/src/scriptworker/client.py
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ def sync_main(
     config_path: Optional[str] = None,
     default_config: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
     should_validate_task: bool = True,
-    loop_function: Callable[[], AbstractEventLoop] = asyncio.get_event_loop,
+    loop_function: Callable[[], AbstractEventLoop] = asyncio.new_event_loop,
 ) -> None:
     """Entry point for scripts using scriptworker.
 
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ def sync_main(
             schema. Defaults to True.
         loop_function (function, optional): the function to call to get the
             event loop; here for testing purposes. Defaults to
-            ``asyncio.get_event_loop``.
+            ``asyncio.new_event_loop``.
 
     """
     context = _init_context(config_path, default_config)
diff --git a/tests/test_client.py b/tests/test_client.py
index 50096303..4cc0c801 100644
--- a/tests/test_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_client.py
@@ -245,6 +245,22 @@ def loop_function():
     assert len(async_main_calls) == 1  # async_main was called once
 
 
+def test_sync_main(config):
+    copyfile(BASIC_TASK, os.path.join(config["work_dir"], "task.json"))
+    async_main_calls = []
+
+    async def async_main(*args):
+        async_main_calls.append(args)
+
+    with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile("w+") as f:
+        json.dump(config, f)
+        f.seek(0)
+
+        client.sync_main(async_main, should_validate_task=False, config_path=f.name)
+
+    assert len(async_main_calls) == 1  # async_main was called once
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "does_use_argv, default_config",
     (