Nonsensical error when using Read::take through BufRead
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Description
The following code is an adaption of the example in std::io::Read::take's documentation.
use std::io::Read;
fn foo(mut a: impl Read) {
a.by_ref().take(5);
}
Take a BufRead as an argument instead of a Read.
use std::io::BufRead;
use std::io::Read;
fn foo(mut a: impl BufRead) {
a.by_ref().take(5);
}
These two snippets compile fine. But when we remove the Read import like this:
use std::io::BufRead;
// use std::io::Read;
fn foo(mut a: impl BufRead) {
a.by_ref().take(5);
}
Then compilations fails:
error[E0507]: cannot move out of a mutable reference
--> src/lib.rs:5:5
|
5 | a.by_ref().take(5);
| ^^^^^^^^^^ ------- value moved due to this method call
| |
| move occurs because value has type `impl BufRead`, which does not implement the `Copy` trait
|
note: `std::io::Read::take` takes ownership of the receiver `self`, which moves value
--> /home/e/.rustup/toolchains/stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/library/std/src/io/mod.rs:1239:13
|
1239 | fn take(self, limit: u64) -> Take<Self>
| ^^^^ ^^^^
This does not make sense. We always call the same std::io::Read::by_ref and std::io::Read::take function. If you needed to import the supertrait (BufRead: Read) in order to use it (which is not the case), then the error should be about a missing function and not about the move.
It might be interesting to test whether this still happens when you copy and minimize Read and BufRead into two new traits. I did not do this.
Meta
rustc --version --verbose:
rustc 1.89.0 (29483883e 2025-08-04)
binary: rustc
commit-hash: 29483883eed69d5fb4db01964cdf2af4d86e9cb2
commit-date: 2025-08-04
host: x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
release: 1.89.0
LLVM version: 20.1.7
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start by compiling the two minimal examples from the issue and compare the method-resolution diagnostics. Read the std::io::Read and BufRead definitions around library/std/src/io/mod.rs:1239, then trace the compiler path producing E0507. Done means the cause is documented and the reported diagnostic or method-resolution behavior is corrected with a regression test.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- rust
- Domain
- compilers
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 45/100