diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 134b7bf890..8dfa7ab652 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ org.gradle.caching=true
 # but it won't find it and will fail.
 # It's just a JRE, so it's perfectly normal that the JDK is not present;
 # the JRE is under /usr/lib/jvm/java-1.8.0-openjdk-1.8.0.265.b01-1.fc32.x86_64/jre
-org.gradle.java.installations.auto-detect=false
+org.gradle.java.installations.auto-detect=true
 # We can't rely on Gradle's auto-download of JDKs as it doesn't support EA releases.
 # See https://github.com/gradle/gradle/blob/fc7ea24f3c525d8d12a4346eb0f15976a6be9414/subprojects/platform-jvm/src/main/java/org/gradle/jvm/toolchain/install/internal/AdoptOpenJdkRemoteBinary.java#L114
 org.gradle.java.installations.auto-download=false
diff --git a/hibernate-jfr/hibernate-jfr.gradle b/hibernate-jfr/hibernate-jfr.gradle
index 80af21e991..cb8bc21129 100644
--- a/hibernate-jfr/hibernate-jfr.gradle
+++ b/hibernate-jfr/hibernate-jfr.gradle
@@ -16,12 +16,9 @@ dependencies {
     testImplementation testLibs.jfrUnit
 }
 
-
-// JfrUnit requires JDJ 17
-compileTestJava.onlyIf{
-    jdkVersions.test.release.asInt() >= 17 && jdkVersions.explicit
+test {
+    //Testing JFR events require JDK > 16
+    javaLauncher = javaToolchains.launcherFor {
+        languageVersion = JavaLanguageVersion.of(17)
+    }
 }
-
-test.onlyIf {
-    jdkVersions.test.release.asInt() >= 17 && jdkVersions.explicit
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/hibernate-jfr/src/main/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/internal/JfrEventManager.java b/hibernate-jfr/src/main/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/internal/JfrEventManager.java
index 9cc24bcb76..a5dc3eecfc 100644
--- a/hibernate-jfr/src/main/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/internal/JfrEventManager.java
+++ b/hibernate-jfr/src/main/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/internal/JfrEventManager.java
@@ -19,27 +19,34 @@ import org.hibernate.persister.collection.CollectionPersister;
 import org.hibernate.persister.entity.EntityPersister;
 import org.hibernate.stat.internal.StatsHelper;
 
+import jdk.jfr.EventType;
+
 import static java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS;
 
 
 @AllowNonPortable
 public class JfrEventManager implements EventManager {
 
+	private static final EventType eventType = EventType.getEventType( SessionOpenEvent.class );
+
 	@Override
 	public SessionOpenEvent beginSessionOpenEvent() {
-		final SessionOpenEvent sessionOpenEvent = new SessionOpenEvent();
-		if ( sessionOpenEvent.isEnabled() ) {
+		if ( eventType.isEnabled() ) {
+			final SessionOpenEvent sessionOpenEvent = new SessionOpenEvent();
 			sessionOpenEvent.begin();
+			return sessionOpenEvent;
+		}
+		else {
+			return null;
 		}
-		return sessionOpenEvent;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public void completeSessionOpenEvent(
 			HibernateEvent event,
 			SharedSessionContractImplementor session) {
-		final SessionOpenEvent sessionOpenEvent = (SessionOpenEvent) event;
-		if ( sessionOpenEvent.isEnabled() ) {
+		if ( event != null ) {
+			final SessionOpenEvent sessionOpenEvent = (SessionOpenEvent) event;
 			sessionOpenEvent.end();
 			if ( sessionOpenEvent.shouldCommit() ) {
 				sessionOpenEvent.sessionIdentifier = getSessionIdentifier( session );
diff --git a/hibernate-jfr/src/test/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/SessionEventTests.java b/hibernate-jfr/src/test/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/SessionEventTests.java
index 3ea5583aef..e16a688bde 100644
--- a/hibernate-jfr/src/test/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/SessionEventTests.java
+++ b/hibernate-jfr/src/test/java/org/hibernate/event/jfr/SessionEventTests.java
@@ -30,15 +30,19 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 @JfrEventTest
 @DomainModel
 @SessionFactory
-public class SessionEventTests  {
+public class SessionEventTests {
 	public JfrEvents jfrEvents = new JfrEvents();
 
 	@Test
 	@EnableEvent(SessionOpenEvent.NAME)
 	@EnableEvent(SessionClosedEvent.NAME)
 	public void testSessionOpenEvent(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		jfrEvents.reset();
 		final String openedSessionIdentifier = scope.fromSession( (session) -> {
-			final List<RecordedEvent> events = jfrEvents.events().filter( recordedEvent -> recordedEvent.hasField("sessionIdentifier" ) ).toList();
+			final List<RecordedEvent> events = jfrEvents.events().filter( recordedEvent -> {
+				String eventName = recordedEvent.getEventType().getName();
+				return eventName.equals( SessionOpenEvent.NAME );
+			} ).toList();
 			assertThat( events ).hasSize( 1 );
 			final RecordedEvent event = events.get( 0 );
 			assertThat( event.getEventType().getName() ).isEqualTo( SessionOpenEvent.NAME );
@@ -49,7 +53,10 @@ public class SessionEventTests  {
 			return event.getString( "sessionIdentifier" );
 		} );
 
-		final List<RecordedEvent> events = jfrEvents.events().filter( recordedEvent -> recordedEvent.hasField("sessionIdentifier" ) ).toList();
+		final List<RecordedEvent> events = jfrEvents.events().filter( recordedEvent -> {
+			String eventName = recordedEvent.getEventType().getName();
+			return eventName.equals( SessionClosedEvent.NAME );
+		} ).toList();
 		assertThat( events ).hasSize( 1 );
 		final RecordedEvent event = events.get( 0 );
 		assertThat( event.getEventType().getName() ).isEqualTo( SessionClosedEvent.NAME );