diff --git a/modules/calib3d/include/opencv2/calib3d/calib3d.hpp b/modules/calib3d/include/opencv2/calib3d/calib3d.hpp
index e344035b7012321148f1725695ec0471a6661f07..21c84a4700c982b3d002aa9ce7ecfc948d2b5482 100644
--- a/modules/calib3d/include/opencv2/calib3d/calib3d.hpp
+++ b/modules/calib3d/include/opencv2/calib3d/calib3d.hpp
@@ -548,6 +548,9 @@ CV_EXPORTS_W bool findCirclesGrid( InputArray image, Size patternSize,
                                  OutputArray centers, int flags=CALIB_CB_SYMMETRIC_GRID,
                                  const Ptr<FeatureDetector> &blobDetector = new SimpleBlobDetector());
 
+//! the deprecated function. Use findCirclesGrid() instead of it.
+CV_EXPORTS_W bool findCirclesGridDefault( InputArray image, Size patternSize,
+                                          OutputArray centers, int flags=CALIB_CB_SYMMETRIC_GRID );
 enum
 {
     CALIB_USE_INTRINSIC_GUESS = CV_CALIB_USE_INTRINSIC_GUESS,
diff --git a/modules/calib3d/src/circlesgrid.cpp b/modules/calib3d/src/circlesgrid.cpp
index bb2dae68dbd8819f1ed54409f47c2eec81cf23be..3fc1190df8ffc9999800d88414abb254e58220e4 100644
--- a/modules/calib3d/src/circlesgrid.cpp
+++ b/modules/calib3d/src/circlesgrid.cpp
@@ -1589,3 +1589,8 @@ size_t CirclesGridFinder::getFirstCorner(vector<Point> &largeCornerIndices, vect
   return cornerIdx;
 }
 
+bool cv::findCirclesGridDefault( InputArray image, Size patternSize,
+                                 OutputArray centers, int flags )
+{
+  return findCirclesGrid(image, patternSize, centers, flags);
+}