diff --git a/lib/events.js b/lib/events.js
index 1609d66192e333..c49df9fab84f46 100644
--- a/lib/events.js
+++ b/lib/events.js
@@ -306,10 +306,25 @@ EventEmitter.prototype.prependListener =
     };
 
 function onceWrapper() {
-  this.target.removeListener(this.type, this.wrapFn);
   if (!this.fired) {
+    this.target.removeListener(this.type, this.wrapFn);
     this.fired = true;
-    this.listener.apply(this.target, arguments);
+    switch (arguments.length) {
+      case 0:
+        return this.listener.call(this.target);
+      case 1:
+        return this.listener.call(this.target, arguments[0]);
+      case 2:
+        return this.listener.call(this.target, arguments[0], arguments[1]);
+      case 3:
+        return this.listener.call(this.target, arguments[0], arguments[1],
+                                  arguments[2]);
+      default:
+        const args = new Array(arguments.length);
+        for (var i = 0; i < args.length; ++i)
+          args[i] = arguments[i];
+        this.listener.apply(this.target, args);
+    }
   }
 }