diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/unsafe-intern.yml b/changelogs/fragments/unsafe-intern.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..616e6918de3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/unsafe-intern.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+bugfixes:
+- unsafe data - Enable directly using ``AnsibleUnsafeText`` with Python ``pathlib``
+  (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/82414)
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/unsafe_proxy.py b/lib/ansible/utils/unsafe_proxy.py
index b2c08fbb852..b3e738368ef 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/unsafe_proxy.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/unsafe_proxy.py
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@
 from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
 __metaclass__ = type
 
+import sys
+import types
+import warnings
+from sys import intern as _sys_intern
 from collections.abc import Mapping, Set
 
 from ansible.module_utils.common.text.converters import to_bytes, to_text
@@ -369,3 +373,20 @@ def to_unsafe_text(*args, **kwargs):
 
 def _is_unsafe(obj):
     return getattr(obj, '__UNSAFE__', False) is True
+
+
+def _intern(string):
+    """This is a monkey patch for ``sys.intern`` that will strip
+    the unsafe wrapper prior to interning the string.
+
+    This will not exist in future versions.
+    """
+    if isinstance(string, AnsibleUnsafeText):
+        string = string._strip_unsafe()
+    return _sys_intern(string)
+
+
+if isinstance(sys.intern, types.BuiltinFunctionType):
+    sys.intern = _intern
+else:
+    warnings.warn("skipped sys.intern patch; appears to have already been patched", RuntimeWarning)
diff --git a/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/sanity/import/importer.py b/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/sanity/import/importer.py
index 7919fa0d7d1..38a73643258 100644
--- a/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/sanity/import/importer.py
+++ b/test/lib/ansible_test/_util/target/sanity/import/importer.py
@@ -552,6 +552,12 @@ def main():
                     "Python 2 is no longer supported by the Python core team. Support for it is now deprecated in cryptography,"
                     " and will be removed in the next release.")
 
+            # ansible.utils.unsafe_proxy attempts patching sys.intern generating a warning if it was already patched
+            warnings.filterwarnings(
+                "ignore",
+                "skipped sys.intern patch; appears to have already been patched"
+            )
+
             try:
                 yield
             finally:
diff --git a/test/units/utils/test_unsafe_proxy.py b/test/units/utils/test_unsafe_proxy.py
index fbb0bcdc5fa..55f1b6dd03b 100644
--- a/test/units/utils/test_unsafe_proxy.py
+++ b/test/units/utils/test_unsafe_proxy.py
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 from __future__ import absolute_import, division, print_function
 __metaclass__ = type
 
+import pathlib
+import sys
+
 from ansible.utils.unsafe_proxy import AnsibleUnsafe, AnsibleUnsafeBytes, AnsibleUnsafeText, wrap_var
 from ansible.module_utils.common.text.converters import to_text, to_bytes
 
@@ -115,3 +118,10 @@ def test_to_text_unsafe():
 def test_to_bytes_unsafe():
     assert isinstance(to_bytes(AnsibleUnsafeText(u'foo')), AnsibleUnsafeBytes)
     assert to_bytes(AnsibleUnsafeText(u'foo')) == AnsibleUnsafeBytes(b'foo')
+
+
+def test_unsafe_with_sys_intern():
+    # Specifically this is actually about sys.intern, test of pathlib
+    # because that is a specific affected use
+    assert sys.intern(AnsibleUnsafeText('foo')) == 'foo'
+    assert pathlib.Path(AnsibleUnsafeText('/tmp')) == pathlib.Path('/tmp')