diff --git a/src/Desc.cc b/src/Desc.cc
index 3cdc35bfe5..4654454129 100644
--- a/src/Desc.cc
+++ b/src/Desc.cc
@@ -351,3 +351,24 @@ void ODesc::Clear()
 		}
 	}
 
+bool ODesc::PushType(const BroType* type)
+	{
+	auto res = encountered_types.insert(type);
+	return std::get<1>(res);
+	}
+
+bool ODesc::PopType(const BroType* type)
+	{
+	size_t res = encountered_types.erase(type);
+	return (res == 1);
+	}
+
+bool ODesc::FindType(const BroType* type)
+	{
+	auto res = encountered_types.find(type);
+
+	if ( res != encountered_types.end() )
+		return true;
+
+	return false;
+	}
diff --git a/src/Desc.h b/src/Desc.h
index cc6ba3a662..df850378c4 100644
--- a/src/Desc.h
+++ b/src/Desc.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ typedef enum {
 class BroFile;
 class IPAddr;
 class IPPrefix;
+class BroType;
 
 class ODesc {
 public:
@@ -140,6 +141,12 @@ public:
 
 	void Clear();
 
+	// Used to determine recursive types. Records push their types on here;
+	// if the same type (by address) is re-encountered, processing aborts.
+	bool PushType(const BroType* type);
+	bool PopType(const BroType* type);
+	bool FindType(const BroType* type);
+
 protected:
 	void Indent();
 
@@ -190,6 +197,8 @@ protected:
 	int do_flush;
 	int include_stats;
 	int indent_with_spaces;
+
+	std::set<const BroType*> encountered_types;
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/Type.cc b/src/Type.cc
index 75f1f445df..020bb3ce19 100644
--- a/src/Type.cc
+++ b/src/Type.cc
@@ -1045,6 +1045,7 @@ TypeDecl* RecordType::FieldDecl(int field)
 
 void RecordType::Describe(ODesc* d) const
 	{
+	d->PushType(this);
 	if ( d->IsReadable() )
 		{
 		if ( d->IsShort() && GetName().size() )
@@ -1064,10 +1065,12 @@ void RecordType::Describe(ODesc* d) const
 		d->Add(int(Tag()));
 		DescribeFields(d);
 		}
+	d->PopType(this);
 	}
 
 void RecordType::DescribeReST(ODesc* d, bool roles_only) const
 	{
+	d->PushType(this);
 	d->Add(":bro:type:`record`");
 
 	if ( num_fields == 0 )
@@ -1075,6 +1078,7 @@ void RecordType::DescribeReST(ODesc* d, bool roles_only) const
 
 	d->NL();
 	DescribeFieldsReST(d, false);
+	d->PopType(this);
 	}
 
 const char* RecordType::AddFields(type_decl_list* others, attr_list* attr)
@@ -1129,7 +1133,10 @@ void RecordType::DescribeFields(ODesc* d) const
 			const TypeDecl* td = FieldDecl(i);
 			d->Add(td->id);
 			d->Add(":");
-			td->type->Describe(d);
+			if ( d->FindType(td->type) )
+				d->Add("<recursion>");
+			else
+				td->type->Describe(d);
 			d->Add(";");
 			}
 		}
@@ -1170,7 +1177,10 @@ void RecordType::DescribeFieldsReST(ODesc* d, bool func_args) const
 			}
 
 		const TypeDecl* td = FieldDecl(i);
-		td->DescribeReST(d);
+		if ( d->FindType(td->type) )
+			d->Add("<recursion>");
+		else
+			td->DescribeReST(d);
 
 		if ( func_args )
 			continue;
diff --git a/src/Type.h b/src/Type.h
index e3d1167166..9f7a439986 100644
--- a/src/Type.h
+++ b/src/Type.h
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ public:
 		CHECK_TYPE_TAG(TYPE_FUNC, "BroType::AsFuncType");
 		return (const FuncType*) this;
 		}
+
 	FuncType* AsFuncType()
 		{
 		CHECK_TYPE_TAG(TYPE_FUNC, "BroType::AsFuncType");
@@ -201,7 +202,7 @@ public:
 		}
 
 	const VectorType* AsVectorType() const
-	        {
+		{
 		CHECK_TYPE_TAG(TYPE_VECTOR, "BroType::AsVectorType");
 		return (VectorType*) this;
 		}
@@ -219,19 +220,19 @@ public:
 		}
 
 	VectorType* AsVectorType()
-	        {
+		{
 		CHECK_TYPE_TAG(TYPE_VECTOR, "BroType::AsVectorType");
 		return (VectorType*) this;
 		}
 
 	const TypeType* AsTypeType() const
-	        {
+		{
 		CHECK_TYPE_TAG(TYPE_TYPE, "BroType::AsTypeType");
 		return (TypeType*) this;
 		}
 
 	TypeType* AsTypeType()
-	        {
+		{
 		CHECK_TYPE_TAG(TYPE_TYPE, "BroType::AsTypeType");
 		return (TypeType*) this;
 		}
diff --git a/testing/btest/Baseline/language.record-function-recursion/out b/testing/btest/Baseline/language.record-function-recursion/out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b143d5339b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testing/btest/Baseline/language.record-function-recursion/out
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[id=<uninitialized>, inner=<uninitialized>]
+record { id:count; inner:record { create:function(input:<recursion>;) : string; }; }
diff --git a/testing/btest/language/record-function-recursion.bro b/testing/btest/language/record-function-recursion.bro
index b43c7bfe80..90832bfa69 100644
--- a/testing/btest/language/record-function-recursion.bro
+++ b/testing/btest/language/record-function-recursion.bro
@@ -16,4 +16,5 @@ redef record Outer += {
 event bro_init() {
 	local o = Outer();
 	print o;
+	print type_name(o);
 }