diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/runtime/backtrace/TraceType.java b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/runtime/backtrace/TraceType.java
index 82a2a94ebe5..a7261a9cb8a 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/runtime/backtrace/TraceType.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/jruby/runtime/backtrace/TraceType.java
@@ -399,7 +399,12 @@ protected static String printBacktraceJRuby(RubyException exception, boolean con
         boolean color = console && runtime.getInstanceConfig().getBacktraceColor();
 
         // exception line
-        String message = exception.message(context).toString();
+        String message;
+        try {
+            message = exception.callMethod(context, "message").toString();
+        } catch (org.jruby.exceptions.Exception _) {
+            message = exception.message(context).toString();
+        }
         if (exception.getMetaClass() == runtime.getRuntimeError() && message.length() == 0) {
             message = "No current exception";
         }
@@ -505,4 +510,4 @@ private static void printErrorPos(ThreadContext context, PrintStream errorStream
             }
         }
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}