diff --git a/base/precompilation.jl b/base/precompilation.jl
index 6997ce12c8d01..ffd05986d549a 100644
--- a/base/precompilation.jl
+++ b/base/precompilation.jl
@@ -557,7 +557,9 @@ function precompilepkgs(pkgs::Vector{String}=String[];
         end
     end
     if !isempty(circular_deps)
-        @warn """Circular dependency detected. Precompilation will be skipped for:\n  $(join(string.(circular_deps), "\n  "))"""
+        @warn """
+        Circular dependency detected. Loading may still succeed, but parallel precompilation will be skipped for:
+          $(join(map(d->repr("text/plain", d), circular_deps), "\n  "))"""
     end
     @debug "precompile: circular dep check done"