diff --git a/changelog/fix_an_error_inclusive_language.md b/changelog/fix_an_error_inclusive_language.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bfdb4056dd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/fix_an_error_inclusive_language.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+* [#10610](https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/pull/10610): Fix an error for `Naming/InclusiveLanguage` string with invalid byte sequence in UTF-8. ([@ydah][])
diff --git a/lib/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language.rb b/lib/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language.rb
index 75f16ce1e2a..d5f2402ff92 100644
--- a/lib/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language.rb
+++ b/lib/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language.rb
@@ -214,13 +214,14 @@ def scan_for_words(input)
         end
 
         def mask_input(str)
-          return str if @allowed_regex.nil?
-
           safe_str = if str.valid_encoding?
                        str
                      else
                        str.encode('UTF-8', invalid: :replace, undef: :replace)
                      end
+
+          return safe_str if @allowed_regex.nil?
+
           safe_str.gsub(@allowed_regex) { |match| '*' * match.size }
         end
 
diff --git a/spec/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language_spec.rb b/spec/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language_spec.rb
index e150c4e9656..74cdcd06a0c 100644
--- a/spec/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/rubocop/cop/naming/inclusive_language_spec.rb
@@ -315,6 +315,12 @@ class Nodewhitelist
       RUBY
     end
 
+    it 'does not register offenses and not raise `ArgumentError` for invalid byte sequence in UTF-8' do
+      expect_no_offenses(<<-RUBY)
+        %W("a\\255\\255")
+      RUBY
+    end
+
     context 'when CheckStrings config is false' do
       let(:check_strings) { false }