diff --git a/Lib/json/encoder.py b/Lib/json/encoder.py
index c8c78b9c237652..f4150c3665d610 100644
--- a/Lib/json/encoder.py
+++ b/Lib/json/encoder.py
@@ -350,7 +350,10 @@ def _iterencode_dict(dct, _current_indent_level):
             item_separator = _item_separator
         first = True
         if _sort_keys:
-            items = sorted(dct.items())
+            try:
+                items = sorted(dct.items())
+            except(TypeError):
+                items = sorted(dct.items(), key=lambda kv: str(kv[0]))
         else:
             items = dct.items()
         for key, value in items: