diff --git a/base/BUILD.gn b/base/BUILD.gn
index 6ecbad17b2..ed8650dc2b 100644
--- a/base/BUILD.gn
+++ b/base/BUILD.gn
@@ -1101,6 +1101,7 @@ component("base") {
   all_dependent_configs = []
   defines = []
   data = []
+  libs = []
 
   configs += [
     ":base_flags",
@@ -1470,6 +1471,8 @@ component("base") {
       ":base_win_linker_flags",
       "//tools/win/DebugVisualizers:chrome",
     ]
+  } else if (is_linux) {
+    libs += [ "event_core" ]
   } else if ((!is_nacl && !is_fuchsia) || is_nacl_nonsfi) {
     # Non-Windows.
     deps += [ "//base/third_party/libevent" ]
@@ -2256,6 +2259,7 @@ test("base_unittests") {
   ]
 
   defines = []
+  libs = []
 
   deps = [
     ":base",
@@ -2370,7 +2374,11 @@ test("base_unittests") {
 
   if (is_posix && !is_ios && !is_fuchsia) {
     sources += [ "message_loop/message_pump_libevent_unittest.cc" ]
-    deps += [ "//base/third_party/libevent" ]
+    if (is_linux) {
+      libs += [ "event_core" ]
+    } else {
+      deps += [ "//base/third_party/libevent" ]
+    }
   }
 
   if (is_fuchsia) {
diff --git a/base/message_loop/message_pump_libevent.cc b/base/message_loop/message_pump_libevent.cc
index 63d85c8622..a6392eda1b 100644
--- a/base/message_loop/message_pump_libevent.cc
+++ b/base/message_loop/message_pump_libevent.cc
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 #include "base/files/file_util.h"
 #include "base/logging.h"
 #include "base/posix/eintr_wrapper.h"
-#include "base/third_party/libevent/event.h"
 #include "base/time/time.h"
 #include "base/trace_event/trace_event.h"
 #include "build/build_config.h"
@@ -23,6 +22,12 @@
 #include "base/mac/scoped_nsautorelease_pool.h"
 #endif
 
+#if defined(OS_LINUX)
+#include <event.h>
+#else
+#include "base/third_party/libevent/event.h"
+#endif
+
 // Lifecycle of struct event
 // Libevent uses two main data structures:
 // struct event_base (of which there is one per message pump), and
diff --git a/tools/gn/bootstrap/bootstrap.py b/tools/gn/bootstrap/bootstrap.py
index f154ed2ef3..186fdecc63 100755
--- a/tools/gn/bootstrap/bootstrap.py
+++ b/tools/gn/bootstrap/bootstrap.py
@@ -612,16 +612,13 @@ def write_gn_ninja(path, root_gen_dir, options):
         'base/time/time_conversion_posix.cc',
         'base/trace_event/heap_profiler_allocation_register_posix.cc',
     ])
+  if not is_linux:
     static_libraries['libevent'] = {
         'sources': [
             'base/third_party/libevent/buffer.c',
             'base/third_party/libevent/evbuffer.c',
-            'base/third_party/libevent/evdns.c',
             'base/third_party/libevent/event.c',
-            'base/third_party/libevent/event_tagging.c',
-            'base/third_party/libevent/evrpc.c',
             'base/third_party/libevent/evutil.c',
-            'base/third_party/libevent/http.c',
             'base/third_party/libevent/log.c',
             'base/third_party/libevent/poll.c',
             'base/third_party/libevent/select.c',
@@ -665,13 +662,7 @@ def write_gn_ninja(path, root_gen_dir, options):
         'base/allocator/allocator_shim.cc',
         'base/allocator/allocator_shim_default_dispatch_to_glibc.cc',
       ])
-      libs.extend(['-lrt', '-latomic'])
-      static_libraries['libevent']['include_dirs'].extend([
-          os.path.join(SRC_ROOT, 'base', 'third_party', 'libevent', 'linux')
-      ])
-      static_libraries['libevent']['sources'].extend([
-         'base/third_party/libevent/epoll.c',
-      ])
+      libs.extend(['-lrt', '-latomic', '-levent_core'])
     else:
       libs.extend(['-lrt'])
       static_libraries['base']['sources'].extend([