diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTrace.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTrace.scala
index 9d0b0d7b6..5145718c2 100644
--- a/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTrace.scala
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/main/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTrace.scala
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ package sbt.internal.util
 
 import sbt.io.IO
 import scala.collection.mutable.ListBuffer
+import java.util.{ IdentityHashMap, Collections }
 
 object StackTrace {
   def isSbtClass(name: String) = name.startsWith("sbt.") || name.startsWith("xsbt.")
@@ -30,6 +31,8 @@ object StackTrace {
   def trimmedLines(t: Throwable, d: Int): List[String] = {
     require(d >= 0)
     val b = new ListBuffer[String]()
+    val seen: java.util.Set[Throwable] =
+      Collections.newSetFromMap(new IdentityHashMap[Throwable, java.lang.Boolean]())
 
     def appendStackTrace(t: Throwable, first: Boolean): Unit = {
 
@@ -58,11 +61,16 @@ object StackTrace {
     }
 
     appendStackTrace(t, true)
+    seen.add(t)
     var c = t
-    while (c.getCause() != null) {
+    while (c.getCause() != null && !seen.contains(c.getCause())) {
       c = c.getCause()
+      seen.add(c)
       appendStackTrace(c, false)
     }
+    if (c.getCause() != null && seen.contains(c.getCause())) {
+      b.append("[CIRCULAR REFERENCE: " + c.getCause().toString + "]")
+    }
     b.toList
   }
 
diff --git a/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTraceSpec.scala b/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTraceSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af8a736b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/util-logging/src/test/scala/sbt/internal/util/StackTraceSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+/*
+ * sbt
+ * Copyright 2023, Scala center
+ * Copyright 2011 - 2022, Lightbend, Inc.
+ * Copyright 2008 - 2010, Mark Harrah
+ * Licensed under Apache License 2.0 (see LICENSE)
+ */
+
+package sbt.internal.util
+
+import org.scalatest.flatspec.AnyFlatSpec
+
+class StackTraceSpec extends AnyFlatSpec {
+  "StackTrace.trimmedLines" should "handle normal exceptions" in {
+    val exception = new RuntimeException("test exception")
+    val lines = StackTrace.trimmedLines(exception, 3)
+    assert(lines.nonEmpty)
+    assert(lines.head.contains("test exception"))
+  }
+
+  it should "handle exceptions with causes" in {
+    val cause = new RuntimeException("cause exception")
+    val exception = new RuntimeException("test exception", cause)
+    val lines = StackTrace.trimmedLines(exception, 3)
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("test exception")))
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("Caused by:")))
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("cause exception")))
+  }
+
+  it should "handle self-referencing exceptions without StackOverflowError" in {
+    val exception = new SelfReferencingException("self-referencing exception")
+    val lines = StackTrace.trimmedLines(exception, 3)
+    assert(lines.nonEmpty)
+    assert(lines.head.contains("self-referencing exception"))
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("[CIRCULAR REFERENCE:")))
+  }
+
+  it should "handle circular exception chains without StackOverflowError" in {
+    val exception1 = new ChainableException("exception 1")
+    val exception2 = new ChainableException("exception 2")
+    exception1.setCauseException(exception2)
+    exception2.setCauseException(exception1)
+    val lines = StackTrace.trimmedLines(exception1, 3)
+    assert(lines.nonEmpty)
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("exception 1")))
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("exception 2")))
+    assert(lines.exists(_.contains("[CIRCULAR REFERENCE:")))
+  }
+}
+
+class SelfReferencingException(message: String) extends RuntimeException(message) {
+  override def getCause: Throwable = this
+}
+
+class ChainableException(message: String) extends RuntimeException(message) {
+  import scala.compiletime.uninitialized
+  private var causeException: Throwable = uninitialized
+  def setCauseException(cause: Throwable): Unit = causeException = cause
+  override def getCause: Throwable = causeException
+}