diff --git a/changelog/9386.bugfix.md b/changelog/9386.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8879c14ee409
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/9386.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+`rasa shell` now outputs custom json unicode characters instead of `\uxxxx` codes
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/rasa/core/channels/console.py b/rasa/core/channels/console.py
index fa1a6bcd9c53..1f7b59b6e7b6 100644
--- a/rasa/core/channels/console.py
+++ b/rasa/core/channels/console.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ def _print_bot_output(
     if "custom" in message:
         rasa.shared.utils.cli.print_color("Custom json:", color=color)
         rasa.shared.utils.cli.print_color(
-            json.dumps(message["custom"], indent=2), color=color
+            rasa.shared.utils.io.json_to_string(message["custom"]), color=color
         )
 
     return None