diff --git a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/backports.py b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/backports.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e31750683ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/backports.py
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# Copyright 2021 Red Hat, Inc.
+#
+#    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+#    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
+#    a copy of the License at
+#
+#         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+#    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+#    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+#    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+#    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
+#    under the License.
+
+# We don't technically require ovs 2.10 or ovsdbapp that has these fixes so
+# just include them here for stable releases
+try:
+    from ovs.db import custom_index
+
+    IndexEntryClass = custom_index.IndexEntryClass
+except ImportError:
+    import collections
+
+    from ovs.db import data
+
+    def IndexEntryClass(table):
+        def defaults_uuid_to_row(atom, base):
+            return atom.value
+
+        columns = ['uuid'] + list(table.columns.keys())
+        cls = collections.namedtuple(table.name, columns)
+        cls._table = table
+        cls.__new__.__defaults__ = (None,) + tuple(
+            data.Datum.default(c.type).to_python(defaults_uuid_to_row)
+            for c in table.columns.values())
+        return cls
+
+
+try:
+    from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl import idlutils
+
+    frozen_row = idlutils.frozen_row
+except AttributeError:
+    def frozen_row(row):
+        try:
+            IndexEntry = row._table.rows.IndexEntry
+        except AttributeError:
+            row._table.rows = IndexEntryClass(row._table)
+        return IndexEntry(
+            uuid=row.uuid,
+            **{col: getattr(row, col)
+                for col in row._table.columns if hasattr(row, col)})
+
+
+try:
+    from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl import event as row_event
+    from ovsdbapp import event as ovsdb_event
+
+    RowEventHandler = row_event.RowEventHandler
+except AttributeError:
+    class RowEventHandler(ovsdb_event.RowEventHandler):
+        def notify(self, event, row, updates=None):
+            row = frozen_row(row)
+            super().notify(event, row, updates)
diff --git a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/ovsdb_monitor.py b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/ovsdb_monitor.py
index 71ba96a2b3b..5a170c4c5d2 100644
--- a/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/ovsdb_monitor.py
+++ b/neutron/plugins/ml2/drivers/ovn/mech_driver/ovsdb/ovsdb_monitor.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ from ovs.stream import Stream
 from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl import connection
 from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl import event as row_event
 from ovsdbapp.backend.ovs_idl import idlutils
-from ovsdbapp import event
 
 from neutron.common.ovn import constants as ovn_const
 from neutron.common.ovn import exceptions
@@ -34,6 +33,7 @@ from neutron.common.ovn import hash_ring_manager
 from neutron.common.ovn import utils
 from neutron.conf.plugins.ml2.drivers.ovn import ovn_conf
 from neutron.db import ovn_hash_ring_db
+from neutron.plugins.ml2.drivers.ovn.mech_driver.ovsdb import backports
 
 
 CONF = cfg.CONF
@@ -346,7 +346,7 @@ class FIPAddDeleteEvent(row_event.RowEvent):
         self.driver.delete_mac_binding_entries(row.external_ip)
 
 
-class OvnDbNotifyHandler(event.RowEventHandler):
+class OvnDbNotifyHandler(backports.RowEventHandler):
     def __init__(self, driver):
         super(OvnDbNotifyHandler, self).__init__()
         self.driver = driver
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ class Ml2OvnIdlBase(connection.OvsdbIdl):
 
 class BaseOvnIdl(Ml2OvnIdlBase):
     def __init__(self, remote, schema):
-        self.notify_handler = event.RowEventHandler()
+        self.notify_handler = backports.RowEventHandler()
         super(BaseOvnIdl, self).__init__(remote, schema)
 
     @classmethod