diff --git a/pkg/lib/journal.js b/pkg/lib/journal.js
index 302930a9d..87b3ef96a 100644
--- a/pkg/lib/journal.js
+++ b/pkg/lib/journal.js
@@ -219,9 +219,10 @@ journal.printable = function printable(value) {
     else if (typeof (value) == "string")
         return value;
     else if (value.length !== undefined)
-        return cockpit.format(_("[$0 bytes of binary data]"), value.length);
-    else
+        return new TextDecoder().decode(newUint8Array(value));
+    else {
         return _("[binary data]");
+ }
 };

 function output_funcs_for_box(box) {