diff --git a/app/models/ems_event.rb b/app/models/ems_event.rb
index 036ea8e00d23..fa84dd1b8111 100644
--- a/app/models/ems_event.rb
+++ b/app/models/ems_event.rb
@@ -25,14 +25,7 @@ def self.bottleneck_event_groups
   end
 
   def self.add_queue(meth, ems_id, event)
-    if Settings.prototype.queue_type == 'artemis'
-      MiqQueue.artemis_client('event_handler').publish_topic(
-        :service => "events",
-        :sender  => ems_id,
-        :event   => event[:event_type],
-        :payload => event
-      )
-    else
+    if MiqQueue.queue_type == "miq_queue"
       MiqQueue.submit_job(
         :service     => "event",
         :target_id   => ems_id,
@@ -40,6 +33,13 @@ def self.add_queue(meth, ems_id, event)
         :method_name => meth,
         :args        => [event],
       )
+    else
+      MiqQueue.queue_client('event_handler').publish_topic(
+        :service => "events",
+        :sender  => ems_id,
+        :event   => event[:event_type],
+        :payload => event
+      )
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/miq_event_handler/runner.rb b/app/models/miq_event_handler/runner.rb
index 9a76ddd979af..809d5d1466ba 100644
--- a/app/models/miq_event_handler/runner.rb
+++ b/app/models/miq_event_handler/runner.rb
@@ -1,17 +1,17 @@
 class MiqEventHandler::Runner < MiqQueueWorkerBase::Runner
-  def artemis?
-    Settings.prototype.queue_type == 'artemis'
+  def miq_queue?
+    MiqQueue.queue_type == "miq_queue"
   end
 
   def do_before_work_loop
-    if artemis?
+    unless miq_queue?
       topic_options = {
         :service     => "events",
         :persist_ref => "event_handler"
       }
 
       # this block is stored in a lambda callback and is executed in another thread once a msg is received
-      MiqQueue.artemis_client('event_handler').subscribe_topic(topic_options) do |sender, event, payload|
+      MiqQueue.queue_client('event_handler').subscribe_topic(topic_options) do |sender, event, payload|
         _log.info "Received Event (#{event}) by sender #{sender}: #{payload[:event_type]} #{payload[:chain_id]}"
         EmsEvent.add(sender.to_i, payload)
       end
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def do_before_work_loop
 
   def do_work
     # If we are using MiqQueue then use the default do_work method
-    super unless artemis?
+    super if miq_queue?
 
     # we dont do any work, we are lazy
     # upon msg received, the messaging thread will execute the block in .subscribe_topic as above
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ def do_work
   end
 
   def before_exit(_message, _exit_code)
-    return unless artemis?
-    MiqQueue.artemis_client('event_handler').close
+    return if miq_queue?
+    MiqQueue.queue_client('event_handler').close
   rescue => e
     safe_log("Could not close artemis connection: #{e}", 1)
   end
diff --git a/app/models/miq_queue.rb b/app/models/miq_queue.rb
index 30f43bf4899c..f8b90be491a7 100644
--- a/app/models/miq_queue.rb
+++ b/app/models/miq_queue.rb
@@ -32,24 +32,22 @@ class MiqQueue < ApplicationRecord
   PRIORITY_WHICH  = [:max, :high, :normal, :low, :min]
   PRIORITY_DIR    = [:higher, :lower]
 
-  def self.artemis_client(client_ref)
-    @artemis_client ||= {}
-    @artemis_client[client_ref] ||= begin
+  def self.queue_type
+    Settings.prototype.queue_type
+  end
+
+  def self.queue_client(client_ref)
+    @queue_client ||= {}
+    return if queue_type == "miq_queue"
+
+    @queue_client[client_ref] ||= begin
       require "manageiq-messaging"
       ManageIQ::Messaging.logger = _log
-      queue_settings = Settings.prototype.artemis
-      connect_opts = {
-        :host       => ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_HOSTNAME"] || queue_settings.queue_hostname,
-        :port       => (ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_PORT"] || queue_settings.queue_port).to_i,
-        :username   => ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_USERNAME"] || queue_settings.queue_username,
-        :password   => ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_PASSWORD"] || queue_settings.queue_password,
-        :client_ref => client_ref,
-      }
 
       # caching the client works, even if the connection becomes unavailable
       # internally the client will track the state of the connection and re-open it,
       # once it's available again - at least thats true for a stomp connection
-      ManageIQ::Messaging::Client.open(connect_opts)
+      ManageIQ::Messaging::Client.open(messaging_client_options.merge(:client_ref => client_ref))
     end
   end
 
@@ -641,6 +639,28 @@ def self.optional_values(options, keys = [:zone])
 
   private_class_method :optional_values
 
+  def self.messaging_client_options
+    queue_settings = Settings.prototype[queue_type]
+    connect_opts = {
+      :host       => ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_HOSTNAME"] || queue_settings.queue_hostname,
+      :port       => (ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_PORT"] || queue_settings.queue_port).to_i,
+      :username   => ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_USERNAME"] || queue_settings.queue_username,
+      :password   => ENV["ARTEMIS_QUEUE_PASSWORD"] || queue_settings.queue_password,
+      :protocol   => messaging_client_protocol
+    }
+  end
+  private_class_method :messaging_client_options
+
+  def self.messaging_client_protocol
+    case queue_type
+    when "artemis"
+      :Stomp
+    when "kafka"
+      :Kafka
+    end
+  end
+  private_class_method :messaging_client_protocol
+
   def destroy_potentially_stale_record
     destroy
   rescue ActiveRecord::StaleObjectError
diff --git a/config/settings.yml b/config/settings.yml
index a9cc0e107118..6ee1515430f5 100644
--- a/config/settings.yml
+++ b/config/settings.yml
@@ -936,6 +936,11 @@
     :queue_port: 61616
     :queue_username: admin
     :queue_password: smartvm
+  :kafka:
+    :queue_hostname: localhost
+    :queue_port: 9092
+    :queue_username: admin
+    :queue_password: smartvm
 :recommendations:
   :cpu_minimum: 1
   :mem_minimum: 32.megabytes
diff --git a/spec/models/ems_event_spec.rb b/spec/models/ems_event_spec.rb
index 99884b24c7cc..769b8383aeb2 100644
--- a/spec/models/ems_event_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/ems_event_spec.rb
@@ -134,7 +134,27 @@
           }
 
           expect(queue_client).to receive(:publish_topic).with(expected_queue_payload)
-          expect(MiqQueue).to receive(:artemis_client).with('event_handler').and_return(queue_client)
+          expect(MiqQueue).to receive(:queue_client).with('event_handler').and_return(queue_client)
+
+          described_class.add_queue('add', ems.id, event_hash)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context "queue_type: kafka" do
+        before { stub_settings_merge(:prototype => {:queue_type => 'kafka'}) }
+
+        it "Adds event to Kafka topic" do
+          queue_client = double("ManageIQ::Messaging")
+
+          expected_queue_payload = {
+            :service => "events",
+            :sender  => ems.id,
+            :event   => event_hash[:event_type],
+            :payload => event_hash,
+          }
+
+          expect(queue_client).to receive(:publish_topic).with(expected_queue_payload)
+          expect(MiqQueue).to receive(:queue_client).with('event_handler').and_return(queue_client)
 
           described_class.add_queue('add', ems.id, event_hash)
         end