diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala
index 377caf776deb0..3b4bc242b4668 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocol.scala
@@ -874,8 +874,14 @@ private[spark] object JsonProtocol extends JsonUtils {
       case `stageExecutorMetrics` => stageExecutorMetricsFromJson(json)
       case `blockUpdate` => blockUpdateFromJson(json)
       case `resourceProfileAdded` => resourceProfileAddedFromJson(json)
-      case other => mapper.readValue(json.toString, Utils.classForName(other))
-        .asInstanceOf[SparkListenerEvent]
+      case other =>
+        val otherClass = Utils.classForName(other)
+        if (classOf[SparkListenerEvent].isAssignableFrom(otherClass)) {
+          mapper.readValue(json.toString, otherClass)
+            .asInstanceOf[SparkListenerEvent]
+        } else {
+          throw new SparkException(s"Unknown event type: $other")
+        }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala
index 8105df64705a4..8af8c8579232f 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/util/JsonProtocolSuite.scala
@@ -874,6 +874,36 @@ class JsonProtocolSuite extends SparkFunSuite {
     val jobFailedEvent = JsonProtocol.sparkEventFromJson(exJobFailureNoStackJson)
     testEvent(jobFailedEvent, exJobFailureExpectedJson)
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-52381: handle class not found") {
+    val unknownJson =
+      """{
+        |  "Event" : "com.example.UnknownEvent",
+        |  "foo" : "foo"
+        |}""".stripMargin
+    try {
+      JsonProtocol.sparkEventFromJson(unknownJson)
+      fail("Expected ClassNotFoundException for unknown event type")
+    } catch {
+      case e: ClassNotFoundException =>
+    }
+  }
+
+  test("SPARK-52381: only read classes that extend SparkListenerEvent") {
+    val unknownJson =
+      """{
+        |  "Event" : "org.apache.spark.SparkException",
+        |  "foo" : "foo"
+        |}""".stripMargin
+    try {
+      JsonProtocol.sparkEventFromJson(unknownJson)
+      fail("Expected SparkException for unknown event type")
+    } catch {
+      case e: SparkException =>
+        assert(e.getMessage.startsWith("Unknown event type"))
+    }
+  }
+
 }