diff --git a/j2k/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/j2k/SpecialMethod.kt b/j2k/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/j2k/SpecialMethod.kt
index 2ca98e06b8b..49eb6978bbd 100644
--- a/j2k/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/j2k/SpecialMethod.kt
+++ b/j2k/src/org/jetbrains/kotlin/j2k/SpecialMethod.kt
@@ -292,6 +292,12 @@ enum class SpecialMethod(val qualifiedClassName: String?, val methodName: String
                 = MethodCallExpression.build(codeConverter.convertExpression(qualifier), "toByteArray", codeConverter.convertExpressions(arguments), emptyList(), false)
     },
 
+    STRING_GET_CHARS(JAVA_LANG_STRING, "getChars", 4) {
+        override fun convertCall(qualifier: PsiExpression?, arguments: Array<PsiExpression>, typeArgumentsConverted: List<Type>, codeConverter: CodeConverter)
+                // reorder parameters: srcBegin(0), srcEnd(1), dst(2), dstOffset(3) -> destination(2), destinationOffset(3), startIndex(0), endIndex(1)
+                = MethodCallExpression.buildNotNull(codeConverter.convertExpression(qualifier), "toCharArray", codeConverter.convertExpressions(arguments.slice(listOf(2, 3, 0, 1))))
+    },
+
     STRING_FORMAT_WITH_LOCALE(JAVA_LANG_STRING, "format", null) {
         override fun matches(method: PsiMethod, superMethodsSearcher: SuperMethodsSearcher): Boolean
                 = super.matches(method, superMethodsSearcher) &&
diff --git a/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.java b/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.java
index 4c00d9aebc9..633e33cb082 100644
--- a/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.java
+++ b/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.java
@@ -60,10 +60,7 @@ class A {
 
         s.toString();
         s.toCharArray();
-
-        char[] chars = new char[10];
-        s.getChars(1, 11, chars, 0);
-    }
+   }
 
     void specialMethods() throws Exception {
         String s = "test string";
@@ -86,6 +83,9 @@ class A {
         s.getBytes();
         s.getBytes(Charset.forName("utf-8"));
         s.getBytes("utf-8");
+
+        char[] chars = new char[10];
+        s.getChars(1, 11, chars, 0);
     }
 
     void staticMethods() {
diff --git a/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.kt b/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.kt
index 0e5ddbd05a1..264324d928c 100644
--- a/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.kt
+++ b/j2k/testData/fileOrElement/methodCallExpression/stringMethods.kt
@@ -61,9 +61,6 @@ internal class A {
 
         s.toString()
         s.toCharArray()
-
-        val chars = CharArray(10)
-        s.getChars(1, 11, chars, 0)
     }
 
     @Throws(Exception::class)
@@ -88,6 +85,9 @@ internal class A {
         s.toByteArray()
         s.toByteArray(Charset.forName("utf-8"))
         s.toByteArray("utf-8")
+
+        val chars = CharArray(10)
+        s.toCharArray(chars, 0, 1, 11)
     }
 
     fun staticMethods() {
diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/text/StringsJVM.kt b/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/text/StringsJVM.kt
index cc01217e8d5..7b716234add 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/text/StringsJVM.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/src/kotlin/text/StringsJVM.kt
@@ -93,6 +93,19 @@ public fun String.toLowerCase(): String = (this as java.lang.String).toLowerCase
  */
 public fun String.toCharArray(): CharArray = (this as java.lang.String).toCharArray()
 
+/**
+ * Copies characters from this string into the [destination] character array and returns that array.
+ *
+ * @param destination the array to copy to.
+ * @param destinationOffset the position in the array to copy to.
+ * @param startIndex the start offset (inclusive) of the substring to copy.
+ * @param endIndex the end offset (exclusive) of the substring to copy.
+ */
+public fun String.toCharArray(destination: CharArray, destinationOffset: Int = 0, startIndex: Int = 0, endIndex: Int = length): CharArray {
+    (this as java.lang.String).getChars(startIndex, endIndex, destination, destinationOffset)
+    return destination
+}
+
 /**
  * Uses this string as a format string and returns a string obtained by substituting the specified arguments,
  * using the default locale.
@@ -282,6 +295,7 @@ public fun String.contentEquals(stringBuilder: StringBuffer): Boolean = (this as
  * @param dst the array to copy to.
  * @param dstBegin the position in the array to copy to.
  */
+@Deprecated("Use toCharArray() instead.", ReplaceWith("toCharArray(dst, dstBegin, srcBegin, srcEnd)"))
 public fun String.getChars(srcBegin: Int, srcEnd: Int, dst: CharArray, dstBegin: Int): Unit = (this as java.lang.String).getChars(srcBegin, srcEnd, dst, dstBegin)
 
 
diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/test/text/StringJVMTest.kt b/libraries/stdlib/test/text/StringJVMTest.kt
index 5e248301af0..53fdbfc74cc 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/test/text/StringJVMTest.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/test/text/StringJVMTest.kt
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package test.text
 
+import test.collections.assertArrayNotSameButEquals
 import java.util.Locale
 import kotlin.test.*
 
@@ -79,6 +80,16 @@ class StringJVMTest {
         assertEquals(String(s.toByteArray()), String(s.toByteArray(defaultCharset.name())))
     }
 
+    @test fun toCharArray() {
+        val s = "hello"
+        val chars = s.toCharArray()
+        assertArrayNotSameButEquals(charArrayOf('h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'), chars)
+
+        val buffer = CharArray(4)
+        s.toCharArray(buffer, 2, 1, 3)
+        assertArrayNotSameButEquals(charArrayOf('\u0000', '\u0000', 'e', 'l'), buffer)
+    }
+
     @test fun orderIgnoringCase() {
         val list = listOf("Beast", "Ast", "asterisk")
         assertEquals(listOf("Ast", "Beast", "asterisk"), list.sorted())