2 files changed, 4 insertions, 3 deletions
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e8187d3..b4db243 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -55,8 +55,8 @@ read the value of `key` from the database.
 ### `db[key] = value`
 write `value` as the value of `key` into the database.
 
-### `pairs(db)`
-returns `lmdb.next, db, nil`.
+### `pairs(db)`, `lmdb.pairs(db)`
+returns `lmdb.next, db, nil`, allowing iteration through all the key-value pairs of a database. the `lmdb.pairs` form works even on lua 5.1, which doesn't support the `__pairs` metamethod.
 
-## `#db`
+### `#db`
 return the number of entries in the database.
diff --git a/lmdb.c b/lmdb.c
index 03c696f..a1c4e8e 100644
--- a/lmdb.c
+++ b/lmdb.c
@@ -361,6 +361,7 @@ static const struct luaL_Reg lmdb[] = {
 	{"open", env_open},
 	{"version", version},
 	{"next", db_next},
+	{"pairs",db_pairs},
 	{NULL, NULL},
 };