diff --git a/oslo_utils/eventletutils.py b/oslo_utils/eventletutils.py
index b27bb1d3..5e4b4aa0 100644
--- a/oslo_utils/eventletutils.py
+++ b/oslo_utils/eventletutils.py
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class _Event(object):
 
 
 def Event():
-    if EVENTLET_AVAILABLE:
+    if is_monkey_patched("thread"):
         return _Event()
     else:
         return threading.Event()
diff --git a/oslo_utils/tests/test_eventletutils.py b/oslo_utils/tests/test_eventletutils.py
index 811cd89c..e5765c72 100644
--- a/oslo_utils/tests/test_eventletutils.py
+++ b/oslo_utils/tests/test_eventletutils.py
@@ -125,10 +125,11 @@ class EventletUtilsTest(test_base.BaseTestCase):
 
     @mock.patch('oslo_utils.eventletutils._Event.clear')
     def test_event_api_compat(self, mock_clear):
-        e_event = eventletutils.Event()
+        with mock.patch('oslo_utils.eventletutils.is_monkey_patched',
+                        return_value=True):
+            e_event = eventletutils.Event()
         self.assertIsInstance(e_event, eventletutils._Event)
 
-        eventletutils.EVENTLET_AVAILABLE = False
         t_event = eventletutils.Event()
         if six.PY3:
             t_event_cls = threading.Event