diff --git a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
index 59219821230b51..74cca85996d5c2 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util/inspect.js
@@ -1718,6 +1718,8 @@ function formatProperty(ctx, value, recurseTimes, key, type, desc,
       strEscapeSequencesReplacer, escapeFn
     );
     name = `[${ctx.stylize(tmp, 'symbol')}]`;
+  } else if (key === '__proto__') {
+    name = "['__proto__']";
   } else if (desc.enumerable === false) {
     const tmp = StringPrototypeReplace(key,
                                        strEscapeSequencesReplacer, escapeFn);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
index 8314b64c5ac345..f70090f48939d7 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-util-inspect.js
@@ -3095,3 +3095,10 @@ assert.strictEqual(
     ']'
   );
 }
+
+{
+  assert.strictEqual(
+    util.inspect({ ['__proto__']: { a: 1 } }),
+    "{ ['__proto__']: { a: 1 } }"
+  );
+}