diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/src/kotlin/io/path/PathReadWrite.kt b/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/src/kotlin/io/path/PathReadWrite.kt
index 6022e323ef8..4692f8618ae 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/src/kotlin/io/path/PathReadWrite.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/src/kotlin/io/path/PathReadWrite.kt
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption
 @ExperimentalPathApi
 @kotlin.internal.InlineOnly
 public inline fun Path.reader(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, vararg options: OpenOption): InputStreamReader {
-    return inputStream(*options).reader(charset)
+    return InputStreamReader(Files.newInputStream(this, *options), charset)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -44,7 +44,12 @@ public inline fun Path.bufferedReader(
     bufferSize: Int = DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE,
     vararg options: OpenOption
 ): BufferedReader {
-    return reader(charset, *options).buffered(bufferSize)
+    return BufferedReader(
+        InputStreamReader(
+            Files.newInputStream(this, *options),
+            charset
+        ),
+        bufferSize)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -57,7 +62,7 @@ public inline fun Path.bufferedReader(
 @ExperimentalPathApi
 @kotlin.internal.InlineOnly
 public inline fun Path.writer(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, vararg options: OpenOption): OutputStreamWriter {
-    return outputStream(*options).writer(charset)
+    return OutputStreamWriter(Files.newOutputStream(this, *options), charset)
 }
 
 /**
@@ -75,13 +80,19 @@ public inline fun Path.bufferedWriter(
     bufferSize: Int = DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE,
     vararg options: OpenOption
 ): BufferedWriter {
-    return writer(charset, *options).buffered(bufferSize)
+    return BufferedWriter(
+        OutputStreamWriter(
+            Files.newOutputStream(this, *options),
+            charset),
+        bufferSize)
 }
 
 /**
  * Gets the entire content of this file as a byte array.
  *
- * This method is not recommended on huge files. It has an internal limitation of 2 GB byte array size.
+ * It's not recommended to use this function on huge files.
+ * It has an internal limitation of approximately 2 GB byte array size.
+ * For reading large files or files of unknown size, open an [InputStream][Path.inputStream] and read blocks sequentially.
  *
  * @return the entire content of this file as a byte array.
  */
@@ -123,16 +134,16 @@ public inline fun Path.appendBytes(array: ByteArray) {
 /**
  * Gets the entire content of this file as a String using UTF-8 or the specified [charset].
  *
- * This method is not recommended on huge files. It has an internal limitation of 2 GB file size.
+ * It's not recommended to use this function on huge files.
+ * For reading large files or files of unknown size, open a [Reader][Path.reader] and read blocks of text sequentially.
  *
  * @param charset character set to use for reading text, UTF-8 by default.
  * @return the entire content of this file as a String.
  */
 @SinceKotlin("1.4")
 @ExperimentalPathApi
-@kotlin.internal.InlineOnly
-public inline fun Path.readText(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): String =
-    readBytes().toString(charset)
+public fun Path.readText(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): String =
+    reader(charset).use { it.readText() }
 
 /**
  * Sets the content of this file as [text] encoded using UTF-8 or the specified [charset].
@@ -146,8 +157,8 @@ public inline fun Path.readText(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): String =
  */
 @SinceKotlin("1.4")
 @ExperimentalPathApi
-public fun Path.writeText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, vararg options: OpenOption): Unit {
-    writeBytes(text.toByteArray(charset), *options)
+public fun Path.writeText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, vararg options: OpenOption) {
+    Files.newOutputStream(this, *options).writer(charset).use { it.write(text) }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -158,8 +169,8 @@ public fun Path.writeText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, varar
  */
 @SinceKotlin("1.4")
 @ExperimentalPathApi
-public fun Path.appendText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): Unit {
-    writeText(text, charset, StandardOpenOption.APPEND)
+public fun Path.appendText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8) {
+    Files.newOutputStream(this, StandardOpenOption.APPEND).writer(charset).use { it.write(text) }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -168,15 +179,15 @@ public fun Path.appendText(text: String, charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): Uni
  *
  * You may use this function on huge files.
  *
- * @param options options to determine how the file is opened.
  * @param charset character set to use for reading text, UTF-8 by default.
  * @param action function to process file lines.
  */
 @SinceKotlin("1.4")
 @ExperimentalPathApi
-public fun Path.forEachLine(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, vararg options: OpenOption, action: (line: String) -> Unit): Unit {
-    // Note: close is called at forEachLine
-    bufferedReader(charset, options = options).forEachLine(action)
+@kotlin.internal.InlineOnly
+public inline fun Path.forEachLine(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, action: (line: String) -> Unit): Unit {
+    // cannot use non-inline forEachLine
+    Files.newBufferedReader(this, charset).useLines { it.forEach(action) }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -210,7 +221,8 @@ public inline fun Path.outputStream(vararg options: OpenOption): OutputStream {
 /**
  * Reads the file content as a list of lines.
  *
- * Do not use this function for huge files.
+ * It's not recommended to use this function on huge files.
+ * For reading lines of a large file or a file of unknown size, use [Path.forEachLine] or [Path.useLines].
  *
  * @param charset character set to use for reading text, UTF-8 by default.
  * @return list of file lines.
@@ -233,7 +245,7 @@ public inline fun Path.readLines(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8): List<String
 @ExperimentalPathApi
 @kotlin.internal.InlineOnly
 public inline fun <T> Path.useLines(charset: Charset = Charsets.UTF_8, block: (Sequence<String>) -> T): T {
-    return bufferedReader(charset).use { block(it.lineSequence()) }
+    return Files.newBufferedReader(this, charset).use { block(it.lineSequence()) }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/test/PathReadWriteTest.kt b/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/test/PathReadWriteTest.kt
index 058dcc87baf..f59f1969a6f 100644
--- a/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/test/PathReadWriteTest.kt
+++ b/libraries/stdlib/jdk7/test/PathReadWriteTest.kt
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class PathReadWriteTest {
         writer.close()
 
         val list = ArrayList<String>()
-        file.forEachLine(charset = Charsets.UTF_8, options = arrayOf(StandardOpenOption.READ)) {
+        file.forEachLine(charset = Charsets.UTF_8) {
             list.add(it)
         }
         assertEquals(listOf("Hello", "World"), list)
diff --git a/libraries/tools/binary-compatibility-validator/reference-public-api/kotlin-stdlib-jdk7.txt b/libraries/tools/binary-compatibility-validator/reference-public-api/kotlin-stdlib-jdk7.txt
index 8d3f61a1aa4..1ce2284c03b 100644
--- a/libraries/tools/binary-compatibility-validator/reference-public-api/kotlin-stdlib-jdk7.txt
+++ b/libraries/tools/binary-compatibility-validator/reference-public-api/kotlin-stdlib-jdk7.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ public final class kotlin/io/path/PathsKt {
 	public static final fun getNameWithoutExtension (Ljava/nio/file/Path;)Ljava/lang/String;
 	public static final fun listDirectoryEntries (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/lang/String;)Ljava/util/List;
 	public static synthetic fun listDirectoryEntries$default (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/lang/String;ILjava/lang/Object;)Ljava/util/List;
+	public static final fun readText (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/nio/charset/Charset;)Ljava/lang/String;
+	public static synthetic fun readText$default (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/nio/charset/Charset;ILjava/lang/Object;)Ljava/lang/String;
 	public static final fun relativeTo (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/nio/file/Path;)Ljava/nio/file/Path;
 	public static final fun relativeToOrNull (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/nio/file/Path;)Ljava/nio/file/Path;
 	public static final fun relativeToOrSelf (Ljava/nio/file/Path;Ljava/nio/file/Path;)Ljava/nio/file/Path;