diff --git a/src/pubsub/index.js b/src/pubsub/index.js
index e4d83be1a..4fd93c13d 100644
--- a/src/pubsub/index.js
+++ b/src/pubsub/index.js
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 'use strict'
 
 const debug = require('debug')
-const { EventEmitter } = require('events')
+/** @typedef {import('../types').EventEmitterFactory} Events */
+/** @type Events */
+const EventEmitter = require('events')
 const errcode = require('err-code')
 
 const { pipe } = require('it-pipe')
diff --git a/src/pubsub/peer-streams.js b/src/pubsub/peer-streams.js
index d238bb54d..feedca1c7 100644
--- a/src/pubsub/peer-streams.js
+++ b/src/pubsub/peer-streams.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 'use strict'
 
-const { EventEmitter } = require('events')
+/** @typedef {import('../types').EventEmitterFactory} Events */
+/** @type Events */
+const EventEmitter = require('events')
 
 const lp = require('it-length-prefixed')
 
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..554dfdfa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+export interface EventEmitterFactory {
+  new(): EventEmitter;
+}
+
+export interface EventEmitter {
+  addListener(event: string | symbol, listener: (...args: any[]) => void);
+  on(event: string | symbol, listener: (...args: any[]) => void);
+  once(event: string | symbol, listener: (...args: any[]) => void);
+  removeListener(event: string | symbol, listener: (...args: any[]) => void);
+  off(event: string | symbol, listener: (...args: any[]) => void);
+  removeAllListeners(event?: string | symbol);
+  setMaxListeners(n: number);
+  getMaxListeners(): number;
+  listeners(event: string | symbol): Function[]; // eslint-disable-line @typescript-eslint/ban-types
+  rawListeners(event: string | symbol): Function[]; // eslint-disable-line @typescript-eslint/ban-types
+  emit(event: string | symbol, ...args: any[]): boolean;
+  listenerCount(event: string | symbol): number;
+}