diff --git a/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/EventType.java b/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/EventType.java
index efe91e0f57..d3b15100a3 100644
--- a/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/EventType.java
+++ b/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/EventType.java
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@
 */
 package io.kubernetes.client.informer;
 
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
 public enum EventType {
   ADDED,
 
@@ -23,12 +29,17 @@ public enum EventType {
 
   ERROR;
 
+  private static final Map<String, EventType> TYPES =
+      Arrays.stream(EventType.values()).collect(Collectors.toMap(Enum::name, Function.identity()));
+
   /**
-   * getByType returns the corresponding EventType by type.
+   * returns the corresponding EventType by type.
    *
    * @param type specific code
    * @return corresponding EventType
+   * @deprecated will be removed in a future release. use : findByType
    */
+  @Deprecated
   public static EventType getByType(String type) {
     if (type != null && type.length() > 0) {
       for (EventType eventType : EventType.values()) {
@@ -39,4 +50,14 @@ public static EventType getByType(String type) {
     }
     return null;
   }
+
+  /**
+   * returns the corresponding EventType by type, wrapped in an {@link Optional}
+   *
+   * @param type specific code
+   * @return an Optional describing the EventType
+   */
+  public static Optional<EventType> findByType(String type) {
+    return Optional.ofNullable(TYPES.get(String.valueOf(type).toUpperCase()));
+  }
 }
diff --git a/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/cache/ReflectorRunnable.java b/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/cache/ReflectorRunnable.java
index d28afdbea6..743c5df0ea 100644
--- a/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/cache/ReflectorRunnable.java
+++ b/util/src/main/java/io/kubernetes/client/informer/cache/ReflectorRunnable.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import java.net.ConnectException;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Optional;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.BiConsumer;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -186,12 +187,12 @@ private void watchHandler(Watchable<ApiType> watch) {
     while (watch.hasNext()) {
       io.kubernetes.client.util.Watch.Response<ApiType> item = watch.next();
 
-      EventType eventType = EventType.getByType(item.type);
-      if (eventType == null) {
+      Optional<EventType> eventType = EventType.findByType(item.type);
+      if (!eventType.isPresent()) {
         log.error("unrecognized event {}", item);
         continue;
       }
-      if (eventType == EventType.ERROR) {
+      if (eventType.get() == EventType.ERROR) {
         String errorMessage =
             String.format("got ERROR event and its status: %s", item.status.toString());
         log.error(errorMessage);
@@ -203,7 +204,7 @@ private void watchHandler(Watchable<ApiType> watch) {
       V1ObjectMeta meta = obj.getMetadata();
 
       String newResourceVersion = meta.getResourceVersion();
-      switch (eventType) {
+      switch (eventType.get()) {
         case ADDED:
           store.add(obj);
           break;