diff --git a/airflow/utils/log/secrets_masker.py b/airflow/utils/log/secrets_masker.py
index 623d5da0f2f71..c263cbb945fee 100644
--- a/airflow/utils/log/secrets_masker.py
+++ b/airflow/utils/log/secrets_masker.py
@@ -211,11 +211,13 @@ def _redact(self, item: "RedactableItem", name: Optional[str], depth: int) -> "R
             else:
                 return item
         # I think this should never happen, but it does not hurt to leave it just in case
+        # Well. It happened (see https://github.com/apache/airflow/issues/19816#issuecomment-983311373)
+        # but it caused infinite recursion, so we need to cast it to str first.
         except Exception as e:
             log.warning(
-                "Unable to redact %r, please report this via <https://github.com/apache/airflow/issues>. "
+                "Unable to redact %s, please report this via <https://github.com/apache/airflow/issues>. "
                 "Error was: %s: %s",
-                item,
+                repr(item),
                 type(e).__name__,
                 str(e),
             )