diff --git a/Lib/telnetlib.py b/Lib/telnetlib.py
index 2bfd9cd8ada..bae4ae768df 100644
--- a/Lib/telnetlib.py
+++ b/Lib/telnetlib.py
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ class Telnet:
 
         """
         if self.debuglevel > 0:
-            print 'Telnet(%s,%d):' % (self.host, self.port),
+            print 'Telnet(%s,%s):' % (self.host, self.port),
             if args:
                 print msg % args
             else:
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 8dbc1f3c74f..2d12879e6f0 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ Core and Builtins
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #10695: passing the port as a string value to telnetlib no longer
+  causes debug mode to fail.
+
 - Issue #10107: Warn about unsaved files in IDLE on OSX.
 
 - Issue #10406: Enable Rstrip IDLE extension on OSX (just like on other