diff --git a/esphome/components/event/__init__.py b/esphome/components/event/__init__.py
index 300902b8cad..82b4cc76e16 100644
--- a/esphome/components/event/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/event/__init__.py
@@ -92,8 +92,9 @@ def event_schema(
 @setup_entity("event")
 async def setup_event_core_(var, config, *, event_types: list[str]):
     for conf in config.get(CONF_ON_EVENT, []):
-        trigger = cg.new_Pvariable(conf[CONF_TRIGGER_ID], var)
-        await automation.build_automation(trigger, [(cg.StringRef, "event_type")], conf)
+        await automation.build_callback_automation(
+            var, "add_on_event_callback", [(cg.StringRef, "event_type")], conf
+        )
 
     cg.add(var.set_event_types(event_types))