diff --git a/pkg/util/allstacks/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/util/allstacks/BUILD.bazel
index 44af32d43d24..449fc97d14e0 100644
--- a/pkg/util/allstacks/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/util/allstacks/BUILD.bazel
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@ go_library(
     srcs = ["allstacks.go"],
     importpath = "github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/allstacks",
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
+    deps = ["//pkg/util/debugutil"],
 )
diff --git a/pkg/util/allstacks/allstacks.go b/pkg/util/allstacks/allstacks.go
index 367bc3287ed4..1ae61c261246 100644
--- a/pkg/util/allstacks/allstacks.go
+++ b/pkg/util/allstacks/allstacks.go
@@ -5,18 +5,22 @@
 
 package allstacks
 
-import "runtime"
+import (
+	"runtime"
+
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/debugutil"
+)
 
 // Get returns all stacks, except if that takes more than 512mb of memory, in
 // which case it returns only 512mb worth of stacks (clipping the last stack
 // if necessary).
-func Get() []byte {
+func Get() debugutil.SafeStack {
 	return GetWithBuf(nil)
 }
 
 // GetWithBuf is like Get, but tries to use the provided slice first, allocating
 // a new, larger, slice only if necessary.
-func GetWithBuf(buf []byte) []byte {
+func GetWithBuf(buf []byte) debugutil.SafeStack {
 	buf = buf[:cap(buf)]
 	// We don't know how big the traces are, so grow a few times if they don't
 	// fit. Start large, though.
diff --git a/pkg/util/debugutil/debugutil.go b/pkg/util/debugutil/debugutil.go
index effc8fa1b79a..11d7541eb2e6 100644
--- a/pkg/util/debugutil/debugutil.go
+++ b/pkg/util/debugutil/debugutil.go
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ func init() {
 	}(os.Getppid()))
 }
 
+// SafeStack is an alias for []byte that handles redaction. Use this type
+// instead of []byte when you are sure that the stack trace does not contain
+// sensitive information.
 type SafeStack []byte
 
 func (s SafeStack) SafeValue() {}