diff --git a/lib/events.js b/lib/events.js
index 38422dab0f..5188205d12 100644
--- a/lib/events.js
+++ b/lib/events.js
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ EventEmitter.prototype.removeListener = function(type, listener) {
 
   if (list === listener ||
       (typeof list.listener === 'function' && list.listener === listener)) {
-    this._events[type] = undefined;
+    delete this._events[type];
     if (this._events.removeListener)
       this.emit('removeListener', type, listener);
 
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ EventEmitter.prototype.removeListener = function(type, listener) {
 
     if (list.length === 1) {
       list.length = 0;
-      this._events[type] = undefined;
+      delete this._events[type];
     } else {
       list.splice(position, 1);
     }
@@ -238,7 +238,7 @@ EventEmitter.prototype.removeAllListeners = function(type) {
     if (arguments.length === 0)
       this._events = {};
     else if (this._events[type])
-      this._events[type] = undefined;
+      delete this._events[type];
     return this;
   }
 
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ EventEmitter.prototype.removeAllListeners = function(type) {
     while (listeners.length)
       this.removeListener(type, listeners[listeners.length - 1]);
   }
-  this._events[type] = undefined;
+  delete this._events[type];
 
   return this;
 };
diff --git a/test/simple/test-event-emitter-memory-leak.js b/test/simple/test-event-emitter-memory-leak.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d02fa80512
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/simple/test-event-emitter-memory-leak.js
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright Joyent, Inc. and other Node contributors.
+//
+// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
+// copy of this software and associated documentation files (the
+// "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
+// without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,
+// distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit
+// persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
+// following conditions:
+//
+// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+// in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+//
+// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+// OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF
+// MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
+// NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
+// DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
+// OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE
+// USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+
+// Flags: --expose-gc
+
+// Add and remove a lot of different events to an EventEmitter, then check
+// that we didn't leak the event names.
+var common = require('../common');
+var assert = require('assert');
+var events = require('events');
+
+assert.equal(typeof gc, 'function', 'Run this test with --expose-gc');
+var before = process.memoryUsage().heapUsed;
+var e = new events.EventEmitter();
+
+for (var i = 0; i < 2.5e5; ++i) {
+  var name = 'a-pretty-long-event-name-' + i;
+  e.on(name, assert.fail);
+  e.removeListener(name, assert.fail);
+}
+while (gc());
+
+var after = process.memoryUsage().heapUsed;
+assert(after - before < 1024*1024, 'EventEmitter leaks event names.');