diff --git a/src/cpp/include/nodegui/core/Events/eventwidget_macro.h b/src/cpp/include/nodegui/core/Events/eventwidget_macro.h
index c93bc01c2..b258e76ca 100644
--- a/src/cpp/include/nodegui/core/Events/eventwidget_macro.h
+++ b/src/cpp/include/nodegui/core/Events/eventwidget_macro.h
@@ -40,10 +40,12 @@
     Napi::String eventString = info[0].As<Napi::String>();           \
     EventWidget* eventWidget =                                       \
         dynamic_cast<EventWidget*>(this->instance.data());           \
+    bool success = false;                                            \
     if (eventWidget) {                                               \
       eventWidget->subscribeToQtEvent(eventString.Utf8Value());      \
+      success = true;                                                \
     }                                                                \
-    return env.Null();                                               \
+    return Napi::Boolean::New(env, success);                         \
   }                                                                  \
   Napi::Value unSubscribeToQtEvent(const Napi::CallbackInfo& info) { \
     Napi::Env env = info.Env();                                      \
diff --git a/src/lib/core/EventWidget.ts b/src/lib/core/EventWidget.ts
index 3e7c9c6a9..c7d1a0ae4 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/EventWidget.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/EventWidget.ts
@@ -129,8 +129,18 @@ export abstract class EventWidget<Signals extends unknown> extends Component {
      */
     addEventListener(eventType: WidgetEventTypes, callback: (event?: NativeRawPointer<'QEvent'>) => void): void;
     addEventListener(eventOrSignalType: string, callback: (...payloads: any[]) => void): void {
-        this.native.subscribeToQtEvent(eventOrSignalType);
-        this.emitter.addListener(eventOrSignalType, callback);
+        if (this.native.subscribeToQtEvent(eventOrSignalType)) {
+            this.emitter.addListener(eventOrSignalType, callback);
+        } else {
+            try {
+                throw new Error();
+            } catch (ex) {
+                console.log(
+                    `WARNING: Unable to add event listener '${eventOrSignalType}'. (Perhaps this instance was not created by NodeGui.)`,
+                );
+                console.log(ex);
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     removeEventListener<SignalType extends keyof Signals>(signalType: SignalType, callback: Signals[SignalType]): void;