> Does this mean we should preserve this behaviour for shutil.move() as well?

I don't think so. The key is to remember that shutil.move() is
os.rename() with some additional benefits (as stated by Guido in an
earlier comment). Also, changing the behaviour of shutil.move() may
break backwards compatibility.

I thought this issue has reached a conclusion that all one need is a
doc update. Some thing like (copying from my previous comment):

""If the destination is a fiile and is on same filesystem as that of
src, then simply use rename."

In fact, even the issue's component has been changed to "Documentation".