diff --git a/sys/event/event.c b/sys/event/event.c
index 96579d0a7d..56c1ae5b94 100644
--- a/sys/event/event.c
+++ b/sys/event/event.c
@@ -115,14 +115,12 @@ event_t *event_wait(event_queue_t *queue)
 }
 
 #ifdef MODULE_XTIMER
-event_t *event_wait_timeout(event_queue_t *queue, uint32_t timeout)
+static event_t *_wait_timeout(event_queue_t *queue, xtimer_t *timer)
 {
     assert(queue);
     event_t *result;
-    xtimer_t timer;
     thread_flags_t flags = 0;
 
-    xtimer_set_timeout_flag(&timer, timeout);
     do {
         result = event_get(queue);
         if (result == NULL) {
@@ -131,11 +129,27 @@ event_t *event_wait_timeout(event_queue_t *queue, uint32_t timeout)
     } while ((result == NULL) && (flags & THREAD_FLAG_EVENT));
 
     if (result) {
-        xtimer_remove(&timer);
+        xtimer_remove(timer);
     }
 
     return result;
 }
+
+event_t *event_wait_timeout(event_queue_t *queue, uint32_t timeout)
+{
+    xtimer_t timer;
+
+    xtimer_set_timeout_flag(&timer, timeout);
+    return _wait_timeout(queue, &timer);
+}
+
+event_t *event_wait_timeout64(event_queue_t *queue, uint64_t timeout)
+{
+    xtimer_t timer;
+
+    xtimer_set_timeout_flag64(&timer, timeout);
+    return _wait_timeout(queue, &timer);
+}
 #endif
 
 void event_loop(event_queue_t *queue)
diff --git a/sys/include/event.h b/sys/include/event.h
index 292f64af8c..2814a16347 100644
--- a/sys/include/event.h
+++ b/sys/include/event.h
@@ -242,6 +242,17 @@ event_t *event_wait(event_queue_t *queue);
  * @return      NULL if timeout expired before an event was posted
  */
 event_t *event_wait_timeout(event_queue_t *queue, uint32_t timeout);
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Get next event from event queue, blocking until timeout expires
+ *
+ * @param[in]   queue    queue to query for an event
+ * @param[in]   timeout  maximum time to wait for an event to be posted in us
+ *
+ * @return      pointer to next event if event was taken from the queue
+ * @return      NULL if timeout expired before an event was posted
+ */
+event_t *event_wait_timeout64(event_queue_t *queue, uint64_t timeout);
 #endif
 
 /**
diff --git a/tests/event_wait_timeout/main.c b/tests/event_wait_timeout/main.c
index 00b76bcb4d..3bf64901fe 100644
--- a/tests/event_wait_timeout/main.c
+++ b/tests/event_wait_timeout/main.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include "xtimer.h"
 #include "thread_flags.h"
 
+#define STATIC_TIMEOUT  (10U * US_PER_MS)       /* 10ms */
 #define TIMEOUT         (50U * US_PER_MS)       /* 50ms */
 #define PRIO            (THREAD_PRIORITY_MAIN - 5)
 #define STACKSIZE       (THREAD_STACKSIZE_DEFAULT)
@@ -80,6 +81,33 @@ int main(void)
         puts("[FAILED]");
         return 1;
     }
+    tmp_evt = event_wait_timeout64(&tmp_eq, 0);
+    if (tmp_evt != NULL) {
+        puts("[FAILED]");
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    /* test return in a predefined amount of time */
+    puts("waiting for event with 10ms timeout...");
+    uint32_t before = xtimer_now_usec();
+    tmp_evt = event_wait_timeout(&tmp_eq, STATIC_TIMEOUT);
+    if (tmp_evt != NULL) {
+        puts("[FAILED]");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    uint32_t diff = xtimer_now_usec() - before;
+    printf("event_wait time out after %"PRIu32"us\n", diff);
+
+    puts("waiting for event with 10ms timeout (using uint64)...");
+    uint64_t static_timeout = STATIC_TIMEOUT;
+    before = xtimer_now_usec();
+    tmp_evt = event_wait_timeout64(&tmp_eq, static_timeout);
+    if (tmp_evt != NULL) {
+        puts("[FAILED]");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    diff = xtimer_now_usec() - before;
+    printf("event_wait time out after %"PRIu32"us\n", diff);
 
     thread_create(_stack, sizeof(_stack), PRIO, 0, _cnt_thread, NULL, "cnt");
     /* first, wait 155ms -> should lead to 3 timeout wakeups */