diff --git a/ext/spl/spl_iterators.c b/ext/spl/spl_iterators.c
index 72e0f2f60621b..772d5ceabbc1e 100644
--- a/ext/spl/spl_iterators.c
+++ b/ext/spl/spl_iterators.c
@@ -3366,7 +3366,7 @@ SPL_METHOD(AppendIterator, __construct)
    Append an iterator */
 SPL_METHOD(AppendIterator, append)
 {
-	spl_dual_it_object   *intern;
+	spl_dual_it_object   *intern, *appender;
 	zval *it;
 
 	SPL_FETCH_AND_CHECK_DUAL_IT(intern, getThis());
@@ -3378,6 +3378,11 @@ SPL_METHOD(AppendIterator, append)
 		spl_array_iterator_append(&intern->u.append.zarrayit, it);
 		intern->u.append.iterator->funcs->move_forward(intern->u.append.iterator);
 	}else{
+		appender = Z_SPLDUAL_IT_P(it);
+		if (appender->dit_type == DIT_AppendIterator) {
+			spl_array_iterator_append(&intern->u.append.zarrayit, &appender->u.append.zarrayit);
+			return;
+		}
 		spl_array_iterator_append(&intern->u.append.zarrayit, it);
 	}
 
diff --git a/ext/spl/tests/bug74977.phpt b/ext/spl/tests/bug74977.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..09e16eedfe471
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/spl/tests/bug74977.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+--TEST--
+Bug #74977:	Recursion leads to crash
+--FILE--
+<?php
+
+$iterator = new AppendIterator(array("A","A","A"));
+$iterator->append($iterator);
+var_dump($iterator);
+?>
+--EXPECTF--
+object(AppendIterator)#1 (0) {
+}
+