diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 764ba8108..e05004e1b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -203,6 +203,8 @@ Currently, the `@compat` macro supports the following syntaxes:
 
 * `fieldoffsets` has been deprecated in favor of `fieldoffset`[#14777](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/14777).
 
+* `print_escaped` is now another method of `escape_string`, `print_unescaped` a method of `unescape_string`, and `print_joined` a method of `join`. [#16603](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/16603)
+
 ## New macros
 
 * `@static` has been added [#16219](https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/16219).
diff --git a/src/Compat.jl b/src/Compat.jl
index f150a1a34..d32fb5648 100644
--- a/src/Compat.jl
+++ b/src/Compat.jl
@@ -1425,4 +1425,17 @@ else
     import Base.promote_eltype_op
 end
 
+if VERSION < v"0.5.0-dev+4351"
+    Base.join(io::IO, items) =
+        print_joined(io, items)
+    Base.join(io::IO, items, delim) =
+        print_joined(io, items, delim)
+    Base.join(io::IO, items, delim, last) =
+        print_joined(io, items, delim, last)
+    Base.unescape_string(io, s::AbstractString) =
+        print_unescaped(io, s)
+    Base.escape_string(io, str::AbstractString, esc::AbstractString) =
+        print_escaped(io, str, esc)
+end
+
 end # module
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 249a27a08..68db06688 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -1337,3 +1337,10 @@ let
     end
     @test norm(normalize!(v) - w, Inf) < eps()
 end
+
+# JuliaLang/julia#16603
+@test sprint(join, [1, 2, 3]) == "123"
+@test sprint(join, [1, 2, 3], ',') == "1,2,3"
+@test sprint(join, [1, 2, 3], ", ", ", and ") == "1, 2, and 3"
+@test sprint(escape_string, "xyz\n", "z") == "xy\\z\\n"
+@test sprint(unescape_string, "xyz\\n") == "xyz\n"