diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
index 2ffcea791..7b55f8ec0 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/xml/StaxEventItemWriter.java
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ public class StaxEventItemWriter extends ExecutionContextUserSupport implements
 	 * @param writer XML event writer
 	 * @throws XMLStreamException
 	 */
-	private void startDocument(XMLEventWriter writer) throws XMLStreamException {
+	protected void startDocument(XMLEventWriter writer) throws XMLStreamException {
 
 		XMLEventFactory factory = XMLEventFactory.newInstance();