diff --git a/python/mxnet/gluon/contrib/rnn/rnn_cell.py b/python/mxnet/gluon/contrib/rnn/rnn_cell.py
index 7ae8bfa71e26..3bd8e7810978 100644
--- a/python/mxnet/gluon/contrib/rnn/rnn_cell.py
+++ b/python/mxnet/gluon/contrib/rnn/rnn_cell.py
@@ -323,8 +323,8 @@ def hybrid_forward(self, F, inputs, states, i2h_weight,
     # pylint: enable= arguments-differ
 
 
-def unroll(cell, inputs, begin_state, drop_inputs=0, drop_outputs=0,
-           layout='TNC', valid_length=None):
+def dynamic_unroll(cell, inputs, begin_state, drop_inputs=0, drop_outputs=0,
+                   layout='TNC', valid_length=None):
     """Unrolls an RNN cell across time steps.
 
     Currently, 'TNC' is a preferred layout. unroll on the input of this layout
@@ -376,9 +376,9 @@ def unroll(cell, inputs, begin_state, drop_inputs=0, drop_outputs=0,
     >>> state_shape = (batch_size, input_size)
     >>> states = [mx.nd.normal(loc=0, scale=1, shape=state_shape) for i in range(2)]
     >>> valid_length = mx.nd.array([2, 3])
-    >>> output, states = mx.gluon.contrib.rnn.rnn_cell.unroll(cell, rnn_data, states,
-                                                              valid_length=valid_length,
-                                                              layout='TNC')
+    >>> output, states = mx.gluon.contrib.rnn.rnn_cell.dynamic_unroll(cell, rnn_data, states,
+                                                                      valid_length=valid_length,
+                                                                      layout='TNC')
     >>> print(output)
     [[[ 0.00767238  0.00023103  0.03973929 -0.00925503 -0.05660512]
       [ 0.00881535  0.05428379 -0.02493718 -0.01834097  0.02189514]]
diff --git a/tests/python/unittest/test_gluon_contrib.py b/tests/python/unittest/test_gluon_contrib.py
index b6df8eeab927..1e0555900f17 100644
--- a/tests/python/unittest/test_gluon_contrib.py
+++ b/tests/python/unittest/test_gluon_contrib.py
@@ -324,8 +324,9 @@ def __init__(self, cell_type, hidden_size, layout, prefix=None, params=None):
     def hybrid_forward(self, F, inputs, states, valid_length):
         if isinstance(valid_length, list) and len(valid_length) == 0:
             valid_length = None
-        return contrib.rnn.rnn_cell.unroll(self.cell, inputs, states,
-                                           valid_length=valid_length, layout=self.layout)
+        return contrib.rnn.rnn_cell.dynamic_unroll(self.cell, inputs, states,
+                                                   valid_length=valid_length,
+                                                   layout=self.layout)
 
 def check_unroll(cell_type, num_states, layout):
     batch_size = 20