diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php
index 180e2b4ef3..313b023d7c 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php
@@ -52,6 +52,25 @@ class EntityReferenceEntityFormatter extends EntityReferenceFormatterBase {
    */
   protected $entityDisplayRepository;
 
+  /**
+   * An array of counters for the recursive rendering protection.
+   *
+   * Each counter takes into account all the relevant information about the
+   * field and the referenced entity that is being rendered.
+   *
+   * @see \Drupal\Core\Field\Plugin\Field\FieldFormatter\EntityReferenceEntityFormatter::viewElements()
+   *
+   * @var array
+   *
+   * @deprecated in drupal:9.1.0 and is removed from drupal:10.0.0. This is no
+   *   longer used. Instead use the private property $entity->_render_path to
+   *   keep track of the path taken by the renderer and detect recursion by
+   *   counting the number of times the renderer takes the same path.
+   *
+   * @see https://www.drupal.org/node/2940605
+   */
+  protected static $recursiveRenderDepth = [];
+
   /**
    * Constructs a EntityReferenceEntityFormatter instance.
    *
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php
index 313b023d7c..0c1311943f 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldFormatter/EntityReferenceEntityFormatter.php
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ public function viewElements(FieldItemListInterface $items, $langcode) {
     $elements = [];
 
     foreach ($this->getEntitiesToView($items, $langcode) as $delta => $entity) {
-      // Protect from recursive rendering.
+      // Protect against infinite recursion.
       $recursive_render_id = $items->getName() . ':' . $entity->id();
       if (substr_count($entity->_render_path, $recursive_render_id) > static::RECURSIVE_RENDER_LIMIT) {
         $this->loggerFactory->get('entity')->error('Recursive rendering detected when rendering entity %entity_type: %entity_id, using the %field_name field on the %parent_entity_type:%parent_bundle %parent_entity_id entity. Aborting rendering.', [