diff --git a/jax/_src/debugger/core.py b/jax/_src/debugger/core.py
index 3f615cf12e45..5a8f0e109401 100644
--- a/jax/_src/debugger/core.py
+++ b/jax/_src/debugger/core.py
@@ -14,11 +14,10 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import dataclasses
-import functools
 import inspect
 import threading
 
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple
+from typing import Any, Dict, Hashable, List, Optional, Tuple
 from typing_extensions import Protocol
 
 import jax.numpy as jnp
@@ -29,6 +28,46 @@
 from jax._src import util
 import numpy as np
 
+
+@tree_util.register_pytree_node_class
+class _DictWrapper:
+  keys: list[Hashable]
+  values: list[Any]
+
+  def __init__(self, keys, values):
+    self._keys = keys
+    self._values = values
+
+  def to_dict(self):
+    return dict(zip(self._keys, self._values))
+
+  def tree_flatten(self):
+    return self._values, self._keys
+
+  @classmethod
+  def tree_unflatten(cls, keys, values):
+    return _DictWrapper(keys, values)
+
+
+class _CantFlatten:
+  __repr__ = lambda _: "<cant_flatten>"
+cant_flatten = _CantFlatten()
+
+def _safe_flatten_dict(dct: dict[Any, Any]
+                       ) -> tuple[list[Any], tree_util.PyTreeDef]:
+  # We avoid comparison between keys by just using the original order
+  keys, values = [], []
+  for key, value in dct.items():
+    try:
+      tree_util.tree_leaves(value)
+    except:
+      # If flattening fails, we substitute a sentinel object.
+      value = cant_flatten
+    keys.append(key)
+    values.append(value)
+  return tree_util.tree_flatten(_DictWrapper(keys, values))
+
+
 @tree_util.register_pytree_node_class
 @dataclasses.dataclass(frozen=True)
 class DebuggerFrame:
@@ -42,22 +81,26 @@ class DebuggerFrame:
   offset: Optional[int]
 
   def tree_flatten(self):
-    flat_vars, vars_tree = tree_util.tree_flatten((self.locals, self.globals))
+    flat_locals, locals_tree = _safe_flatten_dict(self.locals)
+    flat_globals, globals_tree = _safe_flatten_dict(self.globals)
+    flat_vars = flat_locals + flat_globals
     is_valid = [
         isinstance(l, (core.Tracer, jnp.ndarray, np.ndarray))
         for l in flat_vars
     ]
     invalid_vars, valid_vars = util.partition_list(is_valid, flat_vars)
-    return valid_vars, (is_valid, invalid_vars, vars_tree, self.filename,
-                          self.code_context, self.source, self.lineno,
-                          self.offset)
+    return valid_vars, (is_valid, invalid_vars, locals_tree, globals_tree,
+                        len(flat_locals), self.filename, self.code_context,
+                        self.source, self.lineno, self.offset)
 
   @classmethod
   def tree_unflatten(cls, info, valid_vars):
-    (is_valid, invalid_vars, vars_tree, filename, code_context, source,
-     lineno, offset) = info
+    (is_valid, invalid_vars, locals_tree, globals_tree, num_locals, filename,
+     code_context, source, lineno, offset) = info
     flat_vars = util.merge_lists(is_valid, invalid_vars, valid_vars)
-    locals_, globals_ = tree_util.tree_unflatten(vars_tree, flat_vars)
+    flat_locals, flat_globals = util.split_list(flat_vars, [num_locals])
+    locals_ = tree_util.tree_unflatten(locals_tree, flat_locals).to_dict()
+    globals_ = tree_util.tree_unflatten(globals_tree, flat_globals).to_dict()
     return DebuggerFrame(filename, locals_, globals_, code_context, source,
                          lineno, offset)
 
diff --git a/tests/debugger_test.py b/tests/debugger_test.py
index 462e502f7487..3065ee5b84f0 100644
--- a/tests/debugger_test.py
+++ b/tests/debugger_test.py
@@ -376,7 +376,6 @@ def f():
       x = 2
       g()
       return x
-
     _ = f()
     expected = _format_multiline(r"""
     Entering jdb:
@@ -409,5 +408,27 @@ def f2():
     jax.effects_barrier()
     self.assertRegex(stdout.getvalue(), expected)
 
+  def test_can_handle_dictionaries_with_unsortable_keys(self):
+    stdin, stdout = make_fake_stdin_stdout(["p x", "p weird_dict",
+                                            "p weirder_dict", "c"])
+
+    @jax.jit
+    def f():
+      weird_dict = {(lambda x: x): 2., (lambda x: x * 2): 3}
+      weirder_dict = {(lambda x: x): weird_dict}
+      x = 2.
+      debugger.breakpoint(stdin=stdin, stdout=stdout, backend="cli")
+      del weirder_dict
+      return x
+    expected = _format_multiline(r"""
+    Entering jdb:
+    \(jdb\) 2.0
+    \(jdb\) <cant_flatten>
+    \(jdb\) <cant_flatten>
+    \(jdb\) """)
+    _ = f()
+    jax.effects_barrier()
+    self.assertRegex(stdout.getvalue(), expected)
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
   absltest.main(testLoader=jtu.JaxTestLoader())