diff --git a/numpy/core/arrayprint.py b/numpy/core/arrayprint.py
index cd618d72aace..7a84eb7c2d49 100644
--- a/numpy/core/arrayprint.py
+++ b/numpy/core/arrayprint.py
@@ -234,27 +234,23 @@ def _boolFormatter(x):
 def repr_format(x):
     return repr(x)
 
-def _array2string(a, max_line_width, precision, suppress_small, separator=' ',
-                  prefix="", formatter=None):
-
-    if max_line_width is None:
-        max_line_width = _line_width
-
-    if precision is None:
-        precision = _float_output_precision
-
-    if suppress_small is None:
-        suppress_small = _float_output_suppress_small
-
-    if formatter is None:
-        formatter = _formatter
-
-    if a.size > _summaryThreshold:
-        summary_insert = "..., "
-        data = _leading_trailing(a)
-    else:
-        summary_insert = ""
-        data = ravel(asarray(a))
+def _get_format_function(data, precision, suppress_small, formatter):
+    """
+    find the right formatting function for the dtype_
+    """
+    dtype_ = data.dtype
+    if dtype_.fields is not None:
+        format_functions = []
+        for descr in dtype_.descr:
+            field_name = descr[0]
+            field_values = data[field_name]
+            if len(field_values.shape) <= 1:
+                format_function = _get_format_function(
+                    field_values, precision, suppress_small, formatter)
+            else:
+                format_function = repr_format
+            format_functions.append(format_function)
+        return StructureFormat(format_functions)
 
     formatdict = {'bool': _boolFormatter,
                   'int': IntegerFormat(data),
@@ -289,31 +285,56 @@ def _array2string(a, max_line_width, precision, suppress_small, separator=' ',
             if key in fkeys:
                 formatdict[key] = formatter[key]
 
-    # find the right formatting function for the array
-    dtypeobj = a.dtype.type
+    dtypeobj = dtype_.type
     if issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.bool_):
-        format_function = formatdict['bool']
+        return formatdict['bool']
     elif issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.integer):
         if issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.timedelta64):
-            format_function = formatdict['timedelta']
+            return formatdict['timedelta']
         else:
-            format_function = formatdict['int']
+            return formatdict['int']
     elif issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.floating):
         if issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.longfloat):
-            format_function = formatdict['longfloat']
+            return formatdict['longfloat']
         else:
-            format_function = formatdict['float']
+            return formatdict['float']
     elif issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.complexfloating):
         if issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.clongfloat):
-            format_function = formatdict['longcomplexfloat']
+            return formatdict['longcomplexfloat']
         else:
-            format_function = formatdict['complexfloat']
+            return formatdict['complexfloat']
     elif issubclass(dtypeobj, (_nt.unicode_, _nt.string_)):
-        format_function = formatdict['numpystr']
+        return formatdict['numpystr']
     elif issubclass(dtypeobj, _nt.datetime64):
-        format_function = formatdict['datetime']
+        return formatdict['datetime']
     else:
-        format_function = formatdict['numpystr']
+        return formatdict['numpystr']
+
+def _array2string(a, max_line_width, precision, suppress_small, separator=' ',
+                  prefix="", formatter=None):
+
+    if max_line_width is None:
+        max_line_width = _line_width
+
+    if precision is None:
+        precision = _float_output_precision
+
+    if suppress_small is None:
+        suppress_small = _float_output_suppress_small
+
+    if formatter is None:
+        formatter = _formatter
+
+    if a.size > _summaryThreshold:
+        summary_insert = "..., "
+        data = _leading_trailing(a)
+    else:
+        summary_insert = ""
+        data = ravel(asarray(a))
+
+    # find the right formatting function for the array
+    format_function = _get_format_function(data, precision,
+                                           suppress_small, formatter)
 
     # skip over "["
     next_line_prefix = " "
@@ -758,3 +779,15 @@ def __call__(self, x):
             return self._nat
         else:
             return self.format % x.astype('i8')
+
+
+class StructureFormat(object):
+    def __init__(self, format_functions):
+        self.format_functions = format_functions
+        self.num_fields = len(format_functions)
+
+    def __call__(self, x):
+        s = "("
+        for field, format_function in zip(x, self.format_functions):
+            s += format_function(field) + ", "
+        return (s[:-2] if 1 < self.num_fields else s[:-1]) + ")"
diff --git a/numpy/core/tests/test_arrayprint.py b/numpy/core/tests/test_arrayprint.py
index 991ead97363f..97b5420ca508 100644
--- a/numpy/core/tests/test_arrayprint.py
+++ b/numpy/core/tests/test_arrayprint.py
@@ -113,6 +113,21 @@ def _format_function(x):
         assert_(np.array2string(s, formatter={'numpystr':lambda s: s*2}) ==
                 '[abcabc defdef]')
 
+    def test_structure_format(self):
+        dt = np.dtype([('name', np.str_, 16), ('grades', np.float64, (2,))])
+        x = np.array([('Sarah', (8.0, 7.0)), ('John', (6.0, 7.0))], dtype=dt)
+        assert_equal(np.array2string(x),
+                "[('Sarah', array([ 8.,  7.])) ('John', array([ 6.,  7.]))]")
+
+        # for issue #5692
+        A = np.zeros(shape=10, dtype=[("A", "M8[s]")])
+        A[5:].fill(np.nan)
+        assert_equal(np.array2string(A),
+                "[('1970-01-01T00:00:00',) ('1970-01-01T00:00:00',) " +
+                "('1970-01-01T00:00:00',)\n ('1970-01-01T00:00:00',) " +
+                "('1970-01-01T00:00:00',) ('NaT',) ('NaT',)\n " +
+                "('NaT',) ('NaT',) ('NaT',)]")
+
 
 class TestPrintOptions:
     """Test getting and setting global print options."""