diff --git a/lib/events.js b/lib/events.js
index a1837cc1a9107e..d34c6f0cb30d6b 100644
--- a/lib/events.js
+++ b/lib/events.js
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ EventEmitter.init = function(opts) {
 
   if (this._events === undefined ||
       this._events === ObjectGetPrototypeOf(this)._events) {
-    this._events = { __proto__: null };
+    this._events = { };
     this._eventsCount = 0;
   }