diff --git a/scripts/base/init-bare.zeek b/scripts/base/init-bare.zeek
index e80262b125..a6a3154f68 100644
--- a/scripts/base/init-bare.zeek
+++ b/scripts/base/init-bare.zeek
@@ -579,6 +579,21 @@ const io_poll_interval_live = 10 &redef;
 ## while testing, but should be used sparingly.
 const running_under_test: bool = F &redef;
 
+module EventMetadata;
+
+export {
+	## Enum type for metadata identifiers.
+	type ID: enum {
+		NETWORK_TIMESTAMP = 1,
+	};
+
+	## A event metadata entry.
+	type Entry: record {
+		id: EventMetadata::ID; ##< The registered :zeek:see:`EventMetadata::ID` value.
+		val: any;              ##< The value. Its type matches what was passed to :zeek:see:`EventMetadata::register`.
+	};
+}
+
 module FTP;
 
 export {
@@ -751,6 +766,9 @@ module GLOBAL;
 ##    directly and then remove this alias.
 type EncapsulatingConnVector: vector of Tunnel::EncapsulatingConn;
 
+## A type alias for event metadata.
+type event_metadata_vec: vector of EventMetadata::Entry;
+
 ## Statistics about a :zeek:type:`connection` endpoint.
 ##
 ## .. zeek:see:: connection
diff --git a/src/Event.cc b/src/Event.cc
index d113e475cf..8f9cc76315 100644
--- a/src/Event.cc
+++ b/src/Event.cc
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include "zeek/Event.h"
 
 #include "zeek/Desc.h"
+#include "zeek/EventRegistry.h"
 #include "zeek/Trigger.h"
 #include "zeek/Val.h"
 #include "zeek/iosource/Manager.h"
@@ -182,6 +183,19 @@ void EventMgr::Process() {
     // and had the opportunity to spawn new events.
 }
 
-void EventMgr::InitPostScript() { iosource_mgr->Register(this, true, false); }
+void EventMgr::InitPostScript() {
+    // Check if expected types and identifiers are available.
+    const auto& et = zeek::id::find_type<zeek::EnumType>("EventMetadata::ID");
+    if ( ! et )
+        zeek::reporter->FatalError("Failed to find EventMetadata::ID");
 
+    const auto& net_ts_val = et->GetEnumVal(et->Lookup("EventMetadata::NETWORK_TIMESTAMP"));
+    if ( ! net_ts_val )
+        zeek::reporter->FatalError("Failed to lookup EventMetadata::NETWORK_TIMESTAMP");
+
+    if ( ! zeek::event_registry->RegisterMetadata(net_ts_val, zeek::base_type(zeek::TYPE_TIME)) )
+        zeek::reporter->FatalError("Failed to register NETWORK_TIMESTAMP metadata");
+
+    iosource_mgr->Register(this, true, false);
+}
 } // namespace zeek
diff --git a/src/EventRegistry.cc b/src/EventRegistry.cc
index 0585752af1..ee52e5e62b 100644
--- a/src/EventRegistry.cc
+++ b/src/EventRegistry.cc
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@
 #include "zeek/EventRegistry.h"
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <cinttypes>
 
+#include "zeek/Desc.h"
 #include "zeek/EventHandler.h"
 #include "zeek/Func.h"
 #include "zeek/RE.h"
 #include "zeek/Reporter.h"
+#include "zeek/Traverse.h"
+#include "zeek/TraverseTypes.h"
+#include "zeek/Type.h"
 
 namespace zeek {
 
@@ -164,4 +169,67 @@ void EventGroup::Disable() {
 
 void EventGroup::AddFunc(detail::ScriptFuncPtr f) { funcs.insert(f); }
 
+namespace {
+
+class EventMetadataTypeRejector : public detail::TraversalCallback {
+public:
+    detail::TraversalCode PreType(const Type* t) override {
+        if ( visited.count(t) > 0 )
+            return detail::TC_ABORTSTMT;
+
+        visited.insert(t);
+
+        if ( reject.count(t->Tag()) )
+            rejected.push_back(t);
+
+        return detail::TC_CONTINUE;
+    };
+
+    std::set<const zeek::Type*> visited;
+    std::vector<const zeek::Type*> rejected;
+
+    std::set<zeek::TypeTag> reject = {TYPE_ANY, TYPE_FUNC, TYPE_FILE, TYPE_OPAQUE};
+};
+
+} // namespace
+
+bool EventRegistry::RegisterMetadata(EnumValPtr id, TypePtr type) {
+    static const auto& metadata_id_type = id::find_type<EnumType>("EventMetadata::ID");
+
+    if ( metadata_id_type != id->GetType() )
+        return false;
+
+    auto id_int = id->Get();
+    if ( id_int < 0 ) {
+        zeek::reporter->InternalError("Negative enum value %s: %" PRId64, obj_desc_short(id.get()).c_str(), id_int);
+    }
+
+    zeek_uint_t id_uint = static_cast<zeek_uint_t>(id_int);
+
+    if ( auto it = event_metadata_types.find(id_uint); it != event_metadata_types.end() )
+        return same_type(it->second.Type(), type);
+
+    EventMetadataTypeRejector cb;
+    type->Traverse(&cb);
+
+    if ( cb.rejected.size() > 0 )
+        return false;
+
+    event_metadata_types.insert({id_uint, EventMetadataDescriptor{id_uint, std::move(id), std::move(type)}});
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+const EventMetadataDescriptor* EventRegistry::LookupMetadata(zeek_uint_t id) const {
+    const auto it = event_metadata_types.find(id);
+    if ( it == event_metadata_types.end() )
+        return nullptr;
+
+    if ( it->second.Id() != id ) {
+        zeek::reporter->InternalError("inconsistent metadata descriptor: %" PRIu64 " vs %" PRId64, it->second.Id(), id);
+    }
+
+    return &(it->second);
+}
+
 } // namespace zeek
diff --git a/src/EventRegistry.h b/src/EventRegistry.h
index 3db64960ea..d4bfb5aa30 100644
--- a/src/EventRegistry.h
+++ b/src/EventRegistry.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 #include <string_view>
+#include <unordered_map>
 #include <unordered_set>
 #include <vector>
 
@@ -22,18 +23,55 @@ enum class EventGroupKind {
     Module,
 };
 
+class EnumVal;
 class EventGroup;
 class EventHandler;
 class EventHandlerPtr;
 class RE_Matcher;
+class RecordVal;
+class Type;
 
+using EnumValPtr = IntrusivePtr<EnumVal>;
 using EventGroupPtr = std::shared_ptr<EventGroup>;
+using RecordValPtr = IntrusivePtr<RecordVal>;
+using TypePtr = IntrusivePtr<Type>;
 
 namespace detail {
 class ScriptFunc;
 using ScriptFuncPtr = zeek::IntrusivePtr<ScriptFunc>;
+
+/**
+ * Well-known event metadata identifiers.
+ */
+enum class MetadataType : uint8_t {
+    NetworkTimestamp = 1,
+};
+
 } // namespace detail
 
+/**
+ * Descriptor for event metadata.
+ *
+ * Event metadata is registered via @ref EventRegistry::RegisterMetadata. The descriptor
+ * holds the metadata identifier and registered type. For the identifier,
+ * *id* is the unsigned int representation, while *id_val* holds the
+ * script-layer zeek::EnumVal.
+ */
+class EventMetadataDescriptor {
+public:
+    EventMetadataDescriptor(zeek_uint_t id, EnumValPtr id_val, TypePtr type)
+        : id(id), id_val(std::move(id_val)), type(std::move(type)) {}
+
+    zeek_uint_t Id() const { return id; }
+    const EnumValPtr& IdVal() const { return id_val; }
+    const TypePtr& Type() const { return type; }
+
+private:
+    zeek_uint_t id;
+    EnumValPtr id_val;
+    TypePtr type;
+};
+
 // The registry keeps track of all events that we provide or handle.
 class EventRegistry final {
 public:
@@ -98,6 +136,23 @@ public:
      */
     EventGroupPtr LookupGroup(EventGroupKind kind, std::string_view name);
 
+    /**
+     * Register a script-layer metadata identifier *id* with type *type*.
+     *
+     * @param id The script-level ``EventMetadata::ID`` enum value.
+     * @param type The type to expect for the given metadata identifier.
+     */
+    bool RegisterMetadata(EnumValPtr id, TypePtr type);
+
+    /**
+     * Lookup the MetadataDescriptor for metadata identifier *id*
+     *
+     * @param id The metadata identifier as unsigned int.
+     * @return A pointer to a MetadataDescriptor or nullptr.
+     */
+    const EventMetadataDescriptor* LookupMetadata(zeek_uint_t id) const;
+
+
 private:
     std::map<std::string, std::unique_ptr<EventHandler>, std::less<>> handlers;
     // Tracks whether a given event handler was registered in a
@@ -106,6 +161,9 @@ private:
 
     // Map event groups identified by kind and name to their instances.
     std::map<std::pair<EventGroupKind, std::string>, std::shared_ptr<EventGroup>, std::less<>> event_groups;
+
+    // Map for event metadata identifier to their descriptors types.
+    std::unordered_map<zeek_uint_t, EventMetadataDescriptor> event_metadata_types;
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/zeek.bif b/src/zeek.bif
index f21d9fa065..5807ee80c7 100644
--- a/src/zeek.bif
+++ b/src/zeek.bif
@@ -401,6 +401,33 @@ function current_event_time%(%): time
 	return zeek::make_intrusive<zeek::TimeVal>(zeek::event_mgr.CurrentEventTime());
 	%}
 
+## Register the expected Zeek type for event metadata.
+##
+## id: The event metadata identifier.
+##
+## t: A type expression or type alias. The type cannot be ``any``, ``func``,
+##    ``file``, ``opaque`` or a composite type containing one of these types.
+##
+## Returns: true if the registration was successful, false if *id* is
+##          registered with a different type already, or type is invalid.
+##
+## .. zeek:see:: EventMetadata::current EventMetadata::current_all
+function EventMetadata::register%(id: EventMetadata::ID, t: any%): bool
+       %{
+       const auto& tty = t->GetType();
+
+       if ( tty->Tag() != zeek::TYPE_TYPE )
+               {
+               zeek::emit_builtin_error("register_event_metadata() expects type");
+               return zeek::val_mgr->False();
+               }
+
+       EnumValPtr idvp = {zeek::NewRef{}, id->AsEnumVal()};
+
+       bool r = zeek::event_registry->RegisterMetadata(idvp, tty->AsTypeType()->GetType());
+       return zeek::val_mgr->Bool(r);
+       %}
+
 ## Returns a system environment variable.
 ##
 ## var: The name of the variable whose value to request.
diff --git a/testing/btest/Baseline/core.event-metadata.register-type-errors/.stderr b/testing/btest/Baseline/core.event-metadata.register-type-errors/.stderr
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..49d861c74c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/Baseline/core.event-metadata.register-type-errors/.stderr
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+### BTest baseline data generated by btest-diff. Do not edit. Use "btest -U/-u" to update. Requires BTest >= 0.63.
diff --git a/testing/btest/Baseline/core.event-metadata.register-type-errors/.stdout b/testing/btest/Baseline/core.event-metadata.register-type-errors/.stdout
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..49d861c74c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/Baseline/core.event-metadata.register-type-errors/.stdout
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+### BTest baseline data generated by btest-diff. Do not edit. Use "btest -U/-u" to update. Requires BTest >= 0.63.
diff --git a/testing/btest/core/event-metadata/register-type-errors.zeek b/testing/btest/core/event-metadata/register-type-errors.zeek
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..440d7161c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/core/event-metadata/register-type-errors.zeek
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# @TEST-DOC: Verify rejection of certain metadata types.
+#
+# @TEST-EXEC: unset ZEEK_ALLOW_INIT_ERRORS; zeek -b %INPUT
+# @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff .stdout
+# @TEST-EXEC: TEST_DIFF_CANONIFIER=$SCRIPTS/diff-remove-abspath btest-diff .stderr
+
+module App;
+
+export {
+	redef enum EventMetadata::ID += {
+		MY_METADATA = 1000,
+		MY_TABLE = 1002,
+		MY_VECTOR = 1003,
+	};
+}
+
+type R: record {
+	f: file;
+	a: any;
+	l: function(x: count): bool;
+};
+
+event zeek_init()
+	{
+	assert ! EventMetadata::register(MY_METADATA, any);
+	assert ! EventMetadata::register(MY_METADATA, table[count] of any);
+	assert ! EventMetadata::register(MY_METADATA, table[count] of function(x: count): bool);
+	assert ! EventMetadata::register(MY_METADATA, R);
+	assert ! EventMetadata::register(MY_METADATA, vector of R);
+	}