diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 4e0eea1f0a..cf3fd642b0 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -245,6 +245,8 @@ provided by the operating system.
 
 - Added `then`, `catch` to `asyncjs`, for now hidden behind `-d:nimExperimentalAsyncjsThen`.
 
+- `--newruntime` is deprecated.
+
 ## Tool changes
 
 - The rst parser now supports markdown table syntax.
diff --git a/compiler/commands.nim b/compiler/commands.nim
index 7ee2c04598..abe1970dcb 100644
--- a/compiler/commands.nim
+++ b/compiler/commands.nim
@@ -891,6 +891,7 @@ proc processSwitch*(switch, arg: string, pass: TCmdLinePass, info: TLineInfo;
     if conf != nil:
       conf.cppDefine(arg)
   of "newruntime":
+    warningDeprecated(conf, info, "newruntime is deprecated, use arc/orc instead!")
     expectNoArg(conf, switch, arg, pass, info)
     if pass in {passCmd2, passPP}:
       doAssert(conf != nil)
diff --git a/doc/advopt.txt b/doc/advopt.txt
index 86d9cde1ef..02476a1acc 100644
--- a/doc/advopt.txt
+++ b/doc/advopt.txt
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ Runtime checks (see -x):
   --floatChecks:on|off      turn all floating point (NaN/Inf) checks on|off
   --nanChecks:on|off        turn NaN checks on|off
   --infChecks:on|off        turn Inf checks on|off
-  --refChecks:on|off        turn ref checks on|off (only for --newruntime)
 
 Advanced options:
   -o:FILE, --out:FILE       set the output filename
diff --git a/doc/nimc.rst b/doc/nimc.rst
index f92e406171..ea173691f5 100644
--- a/doc/nimc.rst
+++ b/doc/nimc.rst
@@ -431,8 +431,8 @@ Define                   Effect
 ``useMalloc``            Makes Nim use C's `malloc`:idx: instead of Nim's
                          own memory manager, albeit prefixing each allocation with
                          its size to support clearing memory on reallocation.
-                         This only works with ``gc:none`` and
-                         with ``--newruntime``.
+                         This only works with ``gc:none``, ``gc:arc`` and
+                         ``--gc:orc``.
 ``useRealtimeGC``        Enables support of Nim's GC for *soft* realtime
                          systems. See the documentation of the `gc <gc.html>`_
                          for further information.
diff --git a/tests/arc/t17173.nim b/tests/arc/t17173.nim
index 5d868d9d4c..0acd886a24 100644
--- a/tests/arc/t17173.nim
+++ b/tests/arc/t17173.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  matrix: "--gc:refc; --gc:arc; --newruntime"
+  matrix: "--gc:refc; --gc:arc"
 """
 
 import std/strbasics
diff --git a/tests/arc/tcomputedgoto.nim b/tests/arc/tcomputedgoto.nim
index 8af17b56ea..541a748c62 100644
--- a/tests/arc/tcomputedgoto.nim
+++ b/tests/arc/tcomputedgoto.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''2
 2'''
 """
diff --git a/tests/arc/tcomputedgotocopy.nim b/tests/arc/tcomputedgotocopy.nim
index 78cb6c5c00..8337123ba0 100644
--- a/tests/arc/tcomputedgotocopy.nim
+++ b/tests/arc/tcomputedgotocopy.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''2
 2'''
 """
diff --git a/tests/destructor/t12037.nim b/tests/destructor/t12037.nim
index 1a7d536cc6..c2c41dfb54 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/t12037.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/t12037.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''
 showing original type, length, and contents seq[int] 1 @[42]
 copy length and contents 1 @[42]
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tarray_indexing.nim b/tests/destructor/tarray_indexing.nim
index 7efd5a00c8..657101c4d2 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tarray_indexing.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tarray_indexing.nim
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 discard """
   output: '''allocating 1048576 65536
 filling page from 1048576 len 65536'''
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
 """
 
 # bug #12669
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tcaseobj_transitions.nim b/tests/destructor/tcaseobj_transitions.nim
index 4e203f4efd..61464101f0 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tcaseobj_transitions.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tcaseobj_transitions.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''no crash'''
 """
 
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tgcdestructors.nim b/tests/destructor/tgcdestructors.nim
index 4731bf694f..07a3731a09 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tgcdestructors.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tgcdestructors.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''hi
 ho
 ha
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tglobaldestructor.nim b/tests/destructor/tglobaldestructor.nim
index 403f670a08..4d002a092a 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tglobaldestructor.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tglobaldestructor.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''(v: 42)
 igotdestroyed'''
 """
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tnewruntime_strutils.nim b/tests/destructor/tnewruntime_strutils.nim
index 0725718d75..8e5378f77d 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tnewruntime_strutils.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tnewruntime_strutils.nim
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 discard """
   valgrind: true
-  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --newruntime -d:useMalloc $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --gc:arc -d:useMalloc $file'''
   output: '''
 @[(input: @["KXSC", "BGMC"]), (input: @["PXFX"]), (input: @["WXRQ", "ZSCZD"])]
 14
diff --git a/tests/destructor/towned_binary_tree.nim b/tests/destructor/towned_binary_tree.nim
index 320e33759e..fb635e7c67 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/towned_binary_tree.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/towned_binary_tree.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''31665
 (allocCount: 33334, deallocCount: 33334)'''
 """
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tsimpleclosure.nim b/tests/destructor/tsimpleclosure.nim
index 35c57a6342..9626dd6f85 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tsimpleclosure.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tsimpleclosure.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c -d:nimAllocStats --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''a b
 70
 hello
diff --git a/tests/destructor/tv2_cast.nim b/tests/destructor/tv2_cast.nim
index 9c05b2ae17..ef0b3a9362 100644
--- a/tests/destructor/tv2_cast.nim
+++ b/tests/destructor/tv2_cast.nim
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 discard """
-  cmd: '''nim c --newruntime $file'''
+  cmd: '''nim c --gc:arc $file'''
   output: '''@[1]
 @[116, 101, 115, 116]
 @[1953719668, 875770417]'''