diff --git a/change/react-native-xaml-e5f739e7-398e-4d89-8d72-0c3559c990cb.json b/change/react-native-xaml-e5f739e7-398e-4d89-8d72-0c3559c990cb.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f91c0a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/change/react-native-xaml-e5f739e7-398e-4d89-8d72-0c3559c990cb.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "type": "patch",
+  "comment": "Fix event setup codepath",
+  "packageName": "react-native-xaml",
+  "email": "asklar@microsoft.com",
+  "dependentChangeType": "patch"
+}
diff --git a/package/windows/ReactNativeXaml/XamlMetadata.cpp b/package/windows/ReactNativeXaml/XamlMetadata.cpp
index 8f1a7fa..6266295 100644
--- a/package/windows/ReactNativeXaml/XamlMetadata.cpp
+++ b/package/windows/ReactNativeXaml/XamlMetadata.cpp
@@ -30,13 +30,12 @@ using namespace winrt::Microsoft::ReactNative;
 #define MAKE_GET_DP(type, prop) IsType<type>, []() { return type::prop(); }
 
 void XamlMetadata::SetupEventDispatcher(const IReactContext& reactContext) {
-  m_reactContext = reactContext;
-  std::once_flag inited;
-  std::call_once(inited, [ctx = reactContext, this]() {
-    ExecuteJsi(ctx, [shared = shared_from_this()](facebook::jsi::Runtime& rt) {
+  if (!m_reactContext) {
+    m_reactContext = reactContext;
+  }
 
-      auto obj = rt.global().createFromHostObject(rt, std::make_shared<XamlObject>());
-      rt.global().setProperty(rt, jsi::PropNameID::forAscii(rt, "xaml"), obj);
+  if (!m_receiveEvent.has_value()) {
+    ExecuteJsi(m_reactContext, [shared = shared_from_this()](facebook::jsi::Runtime& rt) {
       auto batchedBridge = rt.global().getProperty(rt, "__fbBatchedBridge");
       if (!batchedBridge.isUndefined() && batchedBridge.isObject()) {
         if (auto vm = shared.get()) {
@@ -46,7 +45,7 @@ void XamlMetadata::SetupEventDispatcher(const IReactContext& reactContext) {
         }
       }
     });
-    });
+  }
 }
 
 FrameworkElement Wrap(const winrt::Windows::Foundation::IInspectable& d) {