diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index ac3381900831..eff542c0e46b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ PHP                                                                        NEWS
   . Fixed bug GH-22046 (The unserialize function can lead to segfault when
     non-Serializable internal classes are serialized back with the C format).
     (kocsismate)
+  . Fixed bug GH-22292 (AST pretty printing does not correctly handle
+    invalid variable names). (timwolla)
 
 - BCMath:
   . Added NUL-byte validation to BCMath functions. (jorgsowa)
diff --git a/Zend/tests/assert/expect_015.phpt b/Zend/tests/assert/expect_015.phpt
index 9f8e9b77003b..79ea3703ead6 100644
--- a/Zend/tests/assert/expect_015.phpt
+++ b/Zend/tests/assert/expect_015.phpt
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ assert(0 && ($a = function (): ?static {
     $x = "{$a}b";
     $x = "{$a}b";
     $x = " {$foo->bar} {${$foo->bar}} ";
-    $x = " ${---} ";
+    $x = " ${'---'} ";
     foo();
     \foo();
     namespace\foo();
diff --git a/Zend/zend_ast.c b/Zend/zend_ast.c
index a7e26711cd17..983299c0a9d8 100644
--- a/Zend/zend_ast.c
+++ b/Zend/zend_ast.c
@@ -1723,9 +1723,14 @@ static ZEND_COLD void zend_ast_export_var(smart_str *str, zend_ast *ast, int ind
 {
 	if (ast->kind == ZEND_AST_ZVAL) {
 		zval *zv = zend_ast_get_zval(ast);
-		if (Z_TYPE_P(zv) == IS_STRING &&
-		    zend_ast_valid_var_name(Z_STRVAL_P(zv), Z_STRLEN_P(zv))) {
-			smart_str_append(str, Z_STR_P(zv));
+		if (Z_TYPE_P(zv) == IS_STRING) {
+			if (zend_ast_valid_var_name(Z_STRVAL_P(zv), Z_STRLEN_P(zv))) {
+				smart_str_append(str, Z_STR_P(zv));
+			} else {
+				smart_str_appends(str, "{'");
+				zend_ast_export_str(str, Z_STR_P(zv));
+				smart_str_appends(str, "'}");
+			}
 			return;
 		}
 	} else if (ast->kind == ZEND_AST_VAR) {
diff --git a/ext/standard/tests/assert/gh22292.phpt b/ext/standard/tests/assert/gh22292.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e3aa72bf231a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ext/standard/tests/assert/gh22292.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+--TEST--
+GH-22292: AST pretty printing does not correctly handle invalid variable names
+--FILE--
+<?php
+
+class Foo {
+	public function __get($name) { return $name; }
+}
+
+try {
+	${'---'} = 'abc';
+	var_dump(${'---'});
+	assert(!${'---'});
+} catch (Error $e) {
+	echo $e->getMessage(), PHP_EOL;
+}
+
+try {
+	$f = new Foo();
+	var_dump($f->{'---'});
+	assert(!$f->{'---'});
+} catch (Error $e) {
+	echo $e->getMessage(), PHP_EOL;
+}
+
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+string(3) "abc"
+assert(!${'---'})
+string(3) "---"
+assert(!$f->{'---'})