diff --git a/.cspell.yml b/.cspell.yml
index f275e0a24..2efcc1d4d 100644
--- a/.cspell.yml
+++ b/.cspell.yml
@@ -4,5 +4,6 @@ words:
   - addrs
   - httparse
   - msrv
+  - realip
   - rustup
   - zstd
diff --git a/actix-web/CHANGES.md b/actix-web/CHANGES.md
index 8f5c3c77b..ff3f999ac 100644
--- a/actix-web/CHANGES.md
+++ b/actix-web/CHANGES.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 ## Unreleased
 
 - Add `Logger::log_level()` method.
+- Improve handling of non-UTF-8 header values in `Logger` middleware.
 - Add `HttpServer::shutdown_signal()` method.
 - Mark `HttpServer` as `#[must_use]`.
 - Re-export `mime` dependency.
diff --git a/actix-web/src/middleware/logger.rs b/actix-web/src/middleware/logger.rs
index 6394b90dc..e258775c8 100644
--- a/actix-web/src/middleware/logger.rs
+++ b/actix-web/src/middleware/logger.rs
@@ -649,9 +649,9 @@ impl FormatText {
 
             FormatText::ResponseHeader(ref name) => {
                 let s = if let Some(val) = res.headers().get(name) {
-                    val.to_str().unwrap_or("-")
+                    String::from_utf8_lossy(val.as_bytes()).into_owned()
                 } else {
-                    "-"
+                    "-".to_owned()
                 };
                 *self = FormatText::Str(s.to_string())
             }
@@ -693,11 +693,11 @@ impl FormatText {
             FormatText::RequestTime => *self = FormatText::Str(now.format(&Rfc3339).unwrap()),
             FormatText::RequestHeader(ref name) => {
                 let s = if let Some(val) = req.headers().get(name) {
-                    val.to_str().unwrap_or("-")
+                    String::from_utf8_lossy(val.as_bytes()).into_owned()
                 } else {
-                    "-"
+                    "-".to_owned()
                 };
-                *self = FormatText::Str(s.to_string());
+                *self = FormatText::Str(s);
             }
             FormatText::RemoteAddr => {
                 let s = if let Some(peer) = req.connection_info().peer_addr() {