diff --git a/compiler/vmops.nim b/compiler/vmops.nim
index f7eafcd609..0d6d753734 100644
--- a/compiler/vmops.nim
+++ b/compiler/vmops.nim
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ proc registerAdditionalOps*(c: PCtx) =
     wrap1s(fileExists, osop)
     wrapDangerous(writeFile, ioop)
     wrap1s(readFile, ioop)
-    wrap2si(staticReadLines, ioop)
+    wrap2si(readLines, ioop)
     systemop getCurrentExceptionMsg
     systemop getCurrentException
     registerCallback c, "stdlib.*.staticWalkDir", proc (a: VmArgs) {.nimcall.} =
diff --git a/lib/system/io.nim b/lib/system/io.nim
index 9310b02e3f..a326de8618 100644
--- a/lib/system/io.nim
+++ b/lib/system/io.nim
@@ -686,10 +686,10 @@ proc writeFile*(filename, content: string) {.tags: [WriteIOEffect], benign.} =
     sysFatal(IOError, "cannot open: " & filename)
 
 
-proc staticReadLines*(filename: string, n: Natural): seq[TaintedString] =
-  ## Compile time read `n` lines from the file named `filename`. Raises an IO exception
+proc readLines*(filename: string, n: Natural): seq[TaintedString] =
+  ## read `n` lines from the file named `filename`. Raises an IO exception
   ## in case of an error. Raises EOF if file does not contain at least `n` lines.
-  ## A line of text may be delimited by ``LF`` or ``CRLF``.
+  ## Available at compile time. A line of text may be delimited by ``LF`` or ``CRLF``.
   ## The newline character(s) are not part of the returned strings.
   var f: File
   if open(f, filename):
@@ -703,6 +703,8 @@ proc staticReadLines*(filename: string, n: Natural): seq[TaintedString] =
   else:
     sysFatal(IOError, "cannot open: " & filename)
 
+proc readLines*(filename: string): seq[TaintedString] {.deprecated: "use readLines with two arguments".} =
+  readLines(filename, 1)
 
 iterator lines*(filename: string): TaintedString {.tags: [ReadIOEffect].} =
   ## Iterates over any line in the file named `filename`.
diff --git a/tests/vm/tfile_rw.nim b/tests/vm/tfile_rw.nim
index 75242794c0..8d7a2ca95d 100644
--- a/tests/vm/tfile_rw.nim
+++ b/tests/vm/tfile_rw.nim
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ static:
   writeFile(filename, mytext)
 const myfile_str = staticRead(filename)
 const myfile_str2 = readFile(filename)
-const myfile_str_seq = staticReadLines(filename, 3)
+const myfile_str_seq = readLines(filename, 3)
 
 static:
   doAssert myfile_str == mytext