diff --git a/esphome/components/event/event.cpp b/esphome/components/event/event.cpp
index d27b3b378e..20549ad0a5 100644
--- a/esphome/components/event/event.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/event/event.cpp
@@ -8,12 +8,19 @@ namespace event {
 static const char *const TAG = "event";
 
 void Event::trigger(const std::string &event_type) {
-  auto found = types_.find(event_type);
-  if (found == types_.end()) {
+  // Linear search - faster than std::set for small datasets (1-5 items typical)
+  const std::string *found = nullptr;
+  for (const auto &type : this->types_) {
+    if (type == event_type) {
+      found = &type;
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  if (found == nullptr) {
     ESP_LOGE(TAG, "'%s': invalid event type for trigger(): %s", this->get_name().c_str(), event_type.c_str());
     return;
   }
-  last_event_type = &(*found);
+  last_event_type = found;
   ESP_LOGD(TAG, "'%s' Triggered event '%s'", this->get_name().c_str(), last_event_type->c_str());
   this->event_callback_.call(event_type);
 }
diff --git a/esphome/components/event/event.h b/esphome/components/event/event.h
index a90c8ebe05..2f6267a200 100644
--- a/esphome/components/event/event.h
+++ b/esphome/components/event/event.h
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #pragma once
 
-#include <set>
 #include <string>
 
 #include "esphome/core/component.h"
@@ -26,13 +25,13 @@ class Event : public EntityBase, public EntityBase_DeviceClass {
   const std::string *last_event_type;
 
   void trigger(const std::string &event_type);
-  void set_event_types(const std::set<std::string> &event_types) { this->types_ = event_types; }
-  std::set<std::string> get_event_types() const { return this->types_; }
+  void set_event_types(const std::initializer_list<std::string> &event_types) { this->types_ = event_types; }
+  const FixedVector<std::string> &get_event_types() const { return this->types_; }
   void add_on_event_callback(std::function<void(const std::string &event_type)> &&callback);
 
  protected:
   CallbackManager<void(const std::string &event_type)> event_callback_;
-  std::set<std::string> types_;
+  FixedVector<std::string> types_;
 };
 
 }  // namespace event