diff --git a/posthog/tasks/test/__snapshots__/test_usage_report.ambr b/posthog/tasks/test/__snapshots__/test_usage_report.ambr
index 4e5039c1df0b1..ef1c16871c5c5 100644
--- a/posthog/tasks/test/__snapshots__/test_usage_report.ambr
+++ b/posthog/tasks/test/__snapshots__/test_usage_report.ambr
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@
          count(distinct toDate(timestamp), event, cityHash64(distinct_id), cityHash64(uuid)) as count
   FROM events
   WHERE timestamp between '2022-01-10 00:00:00' AND '2022-01-10 23:59:59'
-    AND event != '$feature_flag_called'
-    AND event NOT IN ('survey sent',
+    AND event NOT IN ('$feature_flag_called',
+                      'survey sent',
                       'survey shown',
                       'survey dismissed')
+    AND NOT startsWith(event, '$$')
   GROUP BY team_id
   '''
 # ---
@@ -199,10 +200,11 @@
          count(1) as count
   FROM events
   WHERE timestamp between '2022-01-01 00:00:00' AND '2022-01-10 23:59:59'
-    AND event != '$feature_flag_called'
-    AND event NOT IN ('survey sent',
+    AND event NOT IN ('$feature_flag_called',
+                      'survey sent',
                       'survey shown',
                       'survey dismissed')
+    AND NOT startsWith(event, '$$')
   GROUP BY team_id
   '''
 # ---
diff --git a/posthog/tasks/test/test_usage_report.py b/posthog/tasks/test/test_usage_report.py
index 9f27af35da191..aa9d2efcecedb 100644
--- a/posthog/tasks/test/test_usage_report.py
+++ b/posthog/tasks/test/test_usage_report.py
@@ -643,6 +643,34 @@ def test_unlicensed_usage_report(self, mock_post: MagicMock, mock_client: MagicM
         assert mock_posthog.capture.call_count == 2
         mock_posthog.capture.assert_has_calls(calls, any_order=True)
 
+    @freeze_time("2022-01-10T00:01:00Z")
+    @patch("os.environ", {"DEPLOYMENT": "tests"})
+    @patch("posthog.tasks.usage_report.Client")
+    @patch("requests.post")
+    def test_does_not_count_internal_events(self, mock_post: MagicMock, mock_client: MagicMock) -> None:
+        distinct_id = str(uuid4())
+        _create_person(distinct_ids=[distinct_id], team=self.team)
+
+        _create_event(
+            distinct_id=distinct_id,
+            event="$pageview",
+            timestamp=now() - relativedelta(hours=12),
+            team=self.team,
+        )
+
+        _create_event(
+            distinct_id=distinct_id,
+            event="$$internal_event",
+            timestamp=now() - relativedelta(hours=12),
+            team=self.team,
+        )
+
+        period = get_previous_day()
+        period_start, period_end = period
+        all_reports = _get_all_org_reports(period_start, period_end)
+
+        assert all_reports[str(self.organization.id)].event_count_in_period == 1
+
 
 class HogQLUsageReport(APIBaseTest, ClickhouseTestMixin, ClickhouseDestroyTablesMixin):
     def test_usage_report_hogql_queries(self) -> None:
@@ -1140,12 +1168,6 @@ def setUp(self) -> None:
             distinct_id=1,
             timestamp="2021-10-09T13:01:01Z",
         )
-        _create_event(
-            event="$$internal_metrics_shouldnt_be_billed",
-            team=self.team,
-            distinct_id=1,
-            timestamp="2021-10-09T13:01:01Z",
-        )
         _create_event(
             event="$pageview",
             team=self.team2,
diff --git a/posthog/tasks/usage_report.py b/posthog/tasks/usage_report.py
index c2daef6a4ec73..827dfafe63241 100644
--- a/posthog/tasks/usage_report.py
+++ b/posthog/tasks/usage_report.py
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ def get_teams_with_billable_event_count_in_period(
         f"""
         SELECT team_id, count({distinct_expression}) as count
         FROM events
-        WHERE timestamp between %(begin)s AND %(end)s AND event != '$feature_flag_called' AND event NOT IN ('survey sent', 'survey shown', 'survey dismissed')
+        WHERE timestamp between %(begin)s AND %(end)s AND event NOT IN ('$feature_flag_called', 'survey sent', 'survey shown', 'survey dismissed') AND NOT startsWith(event, '$$')
         GROUP BY team_id
     """,
         {"begin": begin, "end": end},