diff --git a/java/debugger/impl/src/com/intellij/debugger/engine/evaluation/expression/LiteralEvaluator.java b/java/debugger/impl/src/com/intellij/debugger/engine/evaluation/expression/LiteralEvaluator.java
index 1d949dd7bbca..e1393341c323 100644
--- a/java/debugger/impl/src/com/intellij/debugger/engine/evaluation/expression/LiteralEvaluator.java
+++ b/java/debugger/impl/src/com/intellij/debugger/engine/evaluation/expression/LiteralEvaluator.java
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ import com.intellij.debugger.engine.evaluation.EvaluateExceptionUtil;
 import com.intellij.debugger.engine.evaluation.EvaluationContextImpl;
 import com.intellij.debugger.impl.DebuggerUtilsEx;
 import com.intellij.debugger.jdi.VirtualMachineProxyImpl;
+import com.intellij.util.containers.ContainerUtil;
+import com.sun.jdi.Method;
+import com.sun.jdi.StringReference;
+
+import java.util.Collections;
 
 class LiteralEvaluator implements Evaluator {
   private final Object myValue;
@@ -57,7 +62,13 @@ class LiteralEvaluator implements Evaluator {
       return DebuggerUtilsEx.createValue(vm, myExpectedType, ((Number)myValue).longValue());
     }
     if (myValue instanceof String) {
-      return vm.mirrorOf((String)myValue);
+      StringReference str = vm.mirrorOf((String)myValue);
+      // intern
+      Method internMethod = ContainerUtil.getFirstItem(str.referenceType().methodsByName("intern", "()Ljava/lang/String;"));
+      if (internMethod != null) {
+        return context.getDebugProcess().invokeMethod(context, str, internMethod, Collections.emptyList());
+      }
+      return str;
     }
     throw EvaluateExceptionUtil
       .createEvaluateException(DebuggerBundle.message("evaluation.error.unknown.expression.type", myExpectedType));