diff --git a/src/bin.ts b/src/bin.ts
index ad938fb57..9ec856798 100644
--- a/src/bin.ts
+++ b/src/bin.ts
@@ -4,18 +4,13 @@ import { join, resolve, dirname } from 'path'
 import { inspect } from 'util'
 import Module = require('module')
 import arg = require('arg')
-import {
-  parse,
-  register,
-  TSError,
-  VERSION
-} from './index'
 import {
   EVAL_FILENAME,
   EvalState,
   createRepl,
   ReplService
  } from './repl'
+import { VERSION, TSError, parse, register } from './index'
 
 /**
  * Main `bin` functionality.
diff --git a/src/index.spec.ts b/src/index.spec.ts
index 0f6232c69..0f7e0f908 100644
--- a/src/index.spec.ts
+++ b/src/index.spec.ts
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ describe('ts-node', function () {
   })
 
   describe('register', function () {
-    let registered: tsNodeTypes.Register
+    let registered: tsNodeTypes.Service
     let moduleTestPath: string
     before(() => {
       registered = register({
@@ -825,7 +825,7 @@ describe('ts-node', function () {
   })
 
   describe('create', () => {
-    let service: tsNodeTypes.Register
+    let service: tsNodeTypes.Service
     before(() => {
       service = create({ compilerOptions: { target: 'es5' }, skipProject: true })
     })
@@ -852,7 +852,7 @@ describe('ts-node', function () {
   })
 
   describe('issue #1098', () => {
-    function testIgnored (ignored: tsNodeTypes.Register['ignored'], allowed: string[], disallowed: string[]) {
+    function testIgnored (ignored: tsNodeTypes.Service['ignored'], allowed: string[], disallowed: string[]) {
       for (const ext of allowed) {
         expect(ignored(join(__dirname, `index${ext}`))).equal(false, `should accept ${ext} files`)
       }
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 5eb2ab42d..47b986374 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ export const REGISTER_INSTANCE = Symbol.for('ts-node.register.instance')
 declare global {
   namespace NodeJS {
     interface Process {
-      [REGISTER_INSTANCE]?: Register
+      [REGISTER_INSTANCE]?: Service
     }
   }
 }
@@ -356,9 +356,9 @@ export class TSError extends BaseError {
 }
 
 /**
- * Return type for registering `ts-node`.
+ * Primary ts-node service, which wraps the TypeScript API and can compile TypeScript to JavaScript
  */
-export interface Register {
+export interface Service {
   ts: TSCommon
   config: _ts.ParsedCommandLine
   options: RegisterOptions
@@ -368,6 +368,13 @@ export interface Register {
   getTypeInfo (code: string, fileName: string, position: number): TypeInfo
 }
 
+/**
+ * Re-export of `Service` interface for backwards-compatibility
+ * @deprecated use `Service` instead
+ * @see Service
+ */
+export type Register = Service
+
 /**
  * Cached fs operation wrapper.
  */
@@ -398,7 +405,7 @@ export function getExtensions (config: _ts.ParsedCommandLine) {
 /**
  * Register TypeScript compiler instance onto node.js
  */
-export function register (opts: RegisterOptions = {}): Register {
+export function register (opts: RegisterOptions = {}): Service {
   const originalJsHandler = require.extensions['.js'] // tslint:disable-line
   const service = create(opts)
   const { tsExtensions, jsExtensions } = getExtensions(service.config)
@@ -419,7 +426,7 @@ export function register (opts: RegisterOptions = {}): Register {
 /**
  * Create TypeScript compiler instance.
  */
-export function create (rawOptions: CreateOptions = {}): Register {
+export function create (rawOptions: CreateOptions = {}): Service {
   const dir = rawOptions.dir ?? DEFAULTS.dir
   const compilerName = rawOptions.compiler ?? DEFAULTS.compiler
   const cwd = dir ? resolve(dir) : process.cwd()
@@ -1008,12 +1015,12 @@ function reorderRequireExtension (ext: string) {
 function registerExtensions (
   preferTsExts: boolean | null | undefined,
   extensions: string[],
-  register: Register,
+  service: Service,
   originalJsHandler: (m: NodeModule, filename: string) => any
 ) {
   // Register new extensions.
   for (const ext of extensions) {
-    registerExtension(ext, register, originalJsHandler)
+    registerExtension(ext, service, originalJsHandler)
   }
 
   if (preferTsExts) {
@@ -1029,15 +1036,15 @@ function registerExtensions (
  */
 function registerExtension (
   ext: string,
-  register: Register,
+  service: Service,
   originalHandler: (m: NodeModule, filename: string) => any
 ) {
   const old = require.extensions[ext] || originalHandler // tslint:disable-line
 
   require.extensions[ext] = function (m: any, filename) { // tslint:disable-line
-    if (register.ignored(filename)) return old(m, filename)
+    if (service.ignored(filename)) return old(m, filename)
 
-    if (register.options.experimentalEsmLoader) {
+    if (service.options.experimentalEsmLoader) {
       assertScriptCanLoadAsCJS(filename)
     }
 
@@ -1046,7 +1053,7 @@ function registerExtension (
     m._compile = function (code: string, fileName: string) {
       debug('module._compile', fileName)
 
-      return _compile.call(this, register.compile(code, fileName), fileName)
+      return _compile.call(this, service.compile(code, fileName), fileName)
     }
 
     return old(m, filename)
diff --git a/src/repl.ts b/src/repl.ts
index 3cadb91b1..122abbf51 100644
--- a/src/repl.ts
+++ b/src/repl.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { homedir } from 'os'
 import { join } from 'path'
 import { Recoverable, start } from 'repl'
 import { Script } from 'vm'
-import { Register, CreateOptions, TSError } from './index'
+import { Service, CreateOptions, TSError } from './index'
 import { readFileSync, statSync } from 'fs'
 import { Console } from 'console'
 import * as tty from 'tty'
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export interface ReplService {
   /**
    * Bind this REPL to a ts-node compiler service.  A compiler service must be bound before `eval`-ing code or starting the REPL
    */
-  setService (service: Register): void
+  setService (service: Service): void
   evalCode (code: string): void
   /**
    * `eval` implementation compatible with node's REPL API
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ export interface ReplService {
 }
 
 export interface CreateReplOptions {
-  service?: Register
+  service?: Service
   state?: EvalState
   stdin?: NodeJS.ReadableStream
   stdout?: NodeJS.WritableStream
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ export function createRepl (options: CreateReplOptions = {}) {
   }
   return replService
 
-  function setService (_service: Register) {
+  function setService (_service: Service) {
     service = _service
   }
 
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ export function createEvalAwarePartialHost (state: EvalState): EvalAwarePartialH
 /**
  * Evaluate the code snippet.
  */
-function _eval (service: Register, state: EvalState, input: string) {
+function _eval (service: Service, state: EvalState, input: string) {
   const lines = state.lines
   const isCompletion = !/\n$/.test(input)
   const undo = appendEval(state, input)
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ function exec (code: string, filename: string) {
 /**
  * Start a CLI REPL.
  */
-function startRepl (replService: ReplService, service: Register, state: EvalState, code?: string) {
+function startRepl (replService: ReplService, service: Service, state: EvalState, code?: string) {
   // Eval incoming code before the REPL starts.
   if (code) {
     try {