diff --git a/src/__tests__/events.js b/src/__tests__/events.js
index 587bfdae..7bb67475 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/events.js
+++ b/src/__tests__/events.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import * as React from 'react'
-import {render, fireEvent} from '../'
+import * as ReactDOM from 'react-dom'
+import {render, createEvent, fireEvent} from '../'
 
 const eventTypes = [
   {
@@ -254,3 +255,56 @@ test('blur/focus bubbles in react', () => {
   expect(handleFocus).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
   expect(handleBubbledFocus).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
 })
+
+test.each([
+  ['fireEvent.click', element => fireEvent.click(element)],
+  ['fireEvent()', element => fireEvent(element, createEvent.click(element))],
+])(
+  'discrete events are not wrapped in act when using %s',
+  (_, dispatchClick) => {
+    function AddDocumentClickListener({onClick}) {
+      React.useEffect(() => {
+        document.addEventListener('click', onClick)
+        return () => {
+          document.removeEventListener('click', onClick)
+        }
+      }, [onClick])
+      return null
+    }
+    function Component({onDocumentClick}) {
+      const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(false)
+
+      return (
+        <React.Fragment>
+          <button onClick={() => setOpen(true)} />
+          {open &&
+            ReactDOM.createPortal(
+              <AddDocumentClickListener onClick={onDocumentClick} />,
+              document.body,
+            )}
+        </React.Fragment>
+      )
+    }
+    const onDocumentClick = jest.fn()
+    render(<Component onDocumentClick={onDocumentClick} />)
+
+    const button = document.querySelector('button')
+    dispatchClick(button)
+
+    // We added a native click listener from an effect.
+    // There are two possible scenarios:
+    // 1. If that effect is flushed during the click the native click listener would still receive the event that caused the native listener to be added.
+    // 2. If that effect is flushed before we return from fireEvent.click the native click listener would not receive the event that caused the native listener to be added.
+    // React flushes effects scheduled from an update by a "discrete" event immediately if that effect was scheduled from a portaled component.
+    // but not effects in a batched context (e.g. act(() => {}))
+    // So if we were in act(() => {}), we would see scenario 2 i.e. `onDocumentClick` would not be called
+    // If we were not in `act(() => {})`, we would see scenario 1 i.e. `onDocumentClick` would already be called
+    expect(onDocumentClick).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+
+    // verify we did actually flush the effect before we returned from `fireEvent.click` i.e. the native click listener is mounted.
+    document.dispatchEvent(
+      new MouseEvent('click', {bubbles: true, cancelable: true}),
+    )
+    expect(onDocumentClick).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
+  },
+)
diff --git a/src/fire-event.js b/src/fire-event.js
index cb790c7f..a36fbd07 100644
--- a/src/fire-event.js
+++ b/src/fire-event.js
@@ -1,13 +1,100 @@
 import {fireEvent as dtlFireEvent} from '@testing-library/dom'
+import act from './act-compat'
+
+// https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/b48b38af68c27fd401fe4b923a8fa0b229693cd4/packages/react-dom/src/events/ReactDOMEventListener.js#L310-L366
+const discreteEvents = new Set([
+  'cancel',
+  'click',
+  'close',
+  'contextmenu',
+  'copy',
+  'cut',
+  'auxclick',
+  'dblclick',
+  'dragend',
+  'dragstart',
+  'drop',
+  'focusin',
+  'focusout',
+  'input',
+  'invalid',
+  'keydown',
+  'keypress',
+  'keyup',
+  'mousedown',
+  'mouseup',
+  'paste',
+  'pause',
+  'play',
+  'pointercancel',
+  'pointerdown',
+  'pointerup',
+  'ratechange',
+  'reset',
+  'seeked',
+  'submit',
+  'touchcancel',
+  'touchend',
+  'touchstart',
+  'volumechange',
+  'change',
+  'selectionchange',
+  'textInput',
+  'compositionstart',
+  'compositionend',
+  'compositionupdate',
+  'beforeblur',
+  'afterblur',
+  'beforeinput',
+  'blur',
+  'fullscreenchange',
+  'focus',
+  'hashchange',
+  'popstate',
+  'select',
+  'selectstart',
+])
+function isDiscreteEvent(type) {
+  return discreteEvents.has(type)
+}
+
+function noAct(callback) {
+  // Don't alter semantics of `callback`.
+  callback()
+  // But make sure updates are flushed before returning.
+  act(() => {})
+}
 
 // react-testing-library's version of fireEvent will call
 // dom-testing-library's version of fireEvent. The reason
 // we make this distinction however is because we have
 // a few extra events that work a bit differently
-const fireEvent = (...args) => dtlFireEvent(...args)
+function fireEvent(element, event, ...args) {
+  // `act` would simulate how this event would behave if dispatched from a React event listener.
+  // In almost all cases we want to simulate how this event behaves in response to a user interaction.
+  // See discussion in https://github.com/facebook/react/pull/21202
+  const eventWrapper = isDiscreteEvent(event.type) ? noAct : act
+
+  let fireEventReturnValue
+  eventWrapper(() => {
+    fireEventReturnValue = dtlFireEvent(element, event, ...args)
+  })
+  return fireEventReturnValue
+}
 
 Object.keys(dtlFireEvent).forEach(key => {
-  fireEvent[key] = (...args) => dtlFireEvent[key](...args)
+  fireEvent[key] = (element, ...args) => {
+    // `act` would simulate how this event would behave if dispatched from a React event listener.
+    // In almost all cases we want to simulate how this event behaves in response to a user interaction.
+    // See discussion in https://github.com/facebook/react/pull/21202
+    const eventWrapper = isDiscreteEvent(key.toLowerCase()) ? noAct : act
+
+    let fireEventReturnValue
+    eventWrapper(() => {
+      fireEventReturnValue = dtlFireEvent[key](element, ...args)
+    })
+    return fireEventReturnValue
+  }
 })
 
 // React event system tracks native mouseOver/mouseOut events for
diff --git a/src/pure.js b/src/pure.js
index 75098f78..ecc3e49f 100644
--- a/src/pure.js
+++ b/src/pure.js
@@ -16,13 +16,6 @@ configureDTL({
     })
     return result
   },
-  eventWrapper: cb => {
-    let result
-    act(() => {
-      result = cb()
-    })
-    return result
-  },
 })
 
 const mountedContainers = new Set()