2 files changed, 17 insertions, 12 deletions
diff --git a/runtime/doc/lua.txt b/runtime/doc/lua.txt
index c184e4792d..fa3367602d 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/lua.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/lua.txt
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ arguments separated by " " (space) instead of "\t" (tab).
 :lua {chunk}
     Executes Lua chunk {chunk}. If {chunk} starts with "=" the rest of the
     chunk is evaluated as an expression and printed. `:lua =expr` and `:=expr`
-    are equivalent to `:lua vim.print(expr)`.
+    are equivalent to `:lua print(vim.inspect(expr))`.
 
     Examples: >vim
         :lua vim.api.nvim_command('echo "Hello, Nvim!"')
diff --git a/runtime/lua/vim/_editor.lua b/runtime/lua/vim/_editor.lua
index 975f3fea4a..e29d8f1c30 100644
--- a/runtime/lua/vim/_editor.lua
+++ b/runtime/lua/vim/_editor.lua
@@ -1142,6 +1142,21 @@ do
   end
 end
 
+--- @param inspect_strings boolean use vim.inspect() for strings
+function vim._print(inspect_strings, ...)
+  local msg = {}
+  for i = 1, select('#', ...) do
+    local o = select(i, ...)
+    if not inspect_strings and type(o) == 'string' then
+      table.insert(msg, o)
+    else
+      table.insert(msg, vim.inspect(o, { newline = '\n', indent = '  ' }))
+    end
+  end
+  print(table.concat(msg, '\n'))
+  return ...
+end
+
 --- "Pretty prints" the given arguments and returns them unmodified.
 ---
 --- Example:
@@ -1155,17 +1170,7 @@ end
 --- @param ... any
 --- @return any # given arguments.
 function vim.print(...)
-  local msg = {}
-  for i = 1, select('#', ...) do
-    local o = select(i, ...)
-    if type(o) == 'string' then
-      table.insert(msg, o)
-    else
-      table.insert(msg, vim.inspect(o, { newline = '\n', indent = '  ' }))
-    end
-  end
-  print(table.concat(msg, '\n'))
-  return ...
+  return vim._print(false, ...)
 end
 
 --- Translates keycodes.