diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 52b2e407..6aa1832c 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -11,9 +11,10 @@ PlatformIO Core 5
 5.2.3 (2021-??-??)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
+- Show human-readable message when infinite recursion is detected while processing `Interpolation of Values <https://docs.platformio.org/page/projectconf/interpolation.html>`__ (`issue #3883 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/3883>`_)
 - Improved directory interpolation (``${platformio.***_dir}``) in `"platformio.ini" <https://docs.platformio.org/page/projectconf.html>`__ configuration file (`issue #3934 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/3934>`_)
-- Disabled resolving of SCons variables (e.g., ``${SOURCE.get_abspath()}``) when preprocessing `Interpolation of Values <https://docs.platformio.org/page/projectconf/interpolation.html>`__ (`issue #3933 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/3933>`_)
-- Fixed an issue when the "$PROJECT_DIR" variable was not properly replaced in the ``debug_server`` option (`issue #4086 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/4086>`_)
+- Ignore resolving of SCons variables (e.g., ``${SOURCE.get_abspath()}``) when preprocessing interpolations (`issue #3933 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/3933>`_)
+- Fixed an issue when the "$PROJECT_DIR" variable was not properly replaced in the `debug_server <https://docs.platformio.org/page/projectconf/section_env_debug.html#debug-server>`__ option (`issue #4086 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/4086>`_)
 
 
 5.2.2 (2021-10-20)
diff --git a/platformio/project/config.py b/platformio/project/config.py
index 124667e0..1ed6b4d3 100644
--- a/platformio/project/config.py
+++ b/platformio/project/config.py
@@ -294,7 +294,12 @@ class ProjectConfigBase(object):
         section, option = match.group(1), match.group(2)
         if section == "sysenv":
             return os.getenv(option)
-        value = self.getraw(section, option)
+        try:
+            value = self.getraw(section, option)
+        except RecursionError:
+            raise exception.ProjectOptionValueError(
+                "Infinite recursion has been detected", option, section
+            )
         if isinstance(value, list):
             return "\n".join(value)
         return value