diff --git a/lib/internal/event_target.js b/lib/internal/event_target.js
index f5bc4844166342..fc814b87c36138 100644
--- a/lib/internal/event_target.js
+++ b/lib/internal/event_target.js
@@ -541,6 +541,9 @@ function shouldAddListener(listener) {
 function validateEventListenerOptions(options) {
   if (typeof options === 'boolean')
     return { capture: options };
+
+  if (options === null)
+    return {};
   validateObject(options, 'options', {
     allowArray: true, allowFunction: true,
   });
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-eventtarget.js b/test/parallel/test-eventtarget.js
index 63e20513a4c9b2..2a013875dc3225 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-eventtarget.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-eventtarget.js
@@ -178,6 +178,15 @@ let asyncTest = Promise.resolve();
   eventTarget.dispatchEvent(event);
 }
 
+{
+  // The `options` argument can be `null`.
+  const eventTarget = new EventTarget();
+  const event = new Event('foo');
+  const fn = common.mustCall((event) => strictEqual(event.type, 'foo'));
+  eventTarget.addEventListener('foo', fn, null);
+  eventTarget.dispatchEvent(event);
+}
+
 {
   const uncaughtException = common.mustCall((err, event) => {
     strictEqual(err.message, 'boom');