diff --git a/Lib/dataclasses.py b/Lib/dataclasses.py
index 8643589077a4a8..da06aa69148b7e 100644
--- a/Lib/dataclasses.py
+++ b/Lib/dataclasses.py
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ def __init__(self, type):
         self.type = type
 
     def __repr__(self):
-        if isinstance(self.type, type):
+        if isinstance(self.type, type) and not isinstance(self.type, GenericAlias):
             type_name = self.type.__name__
         else:
             # typing objects, e.g. List[int]
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_dataclasses.py b/Lib/test/test_dataclasses.py
index bcd004f4ec3aa2..47075df8d59f3b 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_dataclasses.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_dataclasses.py
@@ -1126,6 +1126,10 @@ def test_init_var_preserve_type(self):
         self.assertEqual(repr(InitVar[int]), 'dataclasses.InitVar[int]')
         self.assertEqual(repr(InitVar[List[int]]),
                          'dataclasses.InitVar[typing.List[int]]')
+        self.assertEqual(repr(InitVar[list[int]]),
+                         'dataclasses.InitVar[list[int]]')
+        self.assertEqual(repr(InitVar[int|str]),
+                         'dataclasses.InitVar[int | str]')
 
     def test_init_var_inheritance(self):
         # Note that this deliberately tests that a dataclass need not
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-10-28-22-58-14.bpo-45662.sJd7Ir.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-10-28-22-58-14.bpo-45662.sJd7Ir.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..050b443dd7cb26
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2021-10-28-22-58-14.bpo-45662.sJd7Ir.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Fix the repr of :data:`dataclasses.InitVar` with a type alias to the
+built-in class, e.g. ``InitVar[list[int]]``.