diff --git a/spring-ldap/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/AbstractContextSource.java b/spring-ldap/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/AbstractContextSource.java
index 4f12fcb5..617fceda 100644
--- a/spring-ldap/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/AbstractContextSource.java
+++ b/spring-ldap/src/main/java/org/springframework/ldap/core/support/AbstractContextSource.java
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractContextSource implements BaseLdapPathContextSource
 	 * @return a new DirContext implpementation initialized with the supplied
 	 * environment.
 	 */
-	DirContext createContext(Hashtable environment) {
+	protected DirContext createContext(Hashtable environment) {
 		DirContext ctx = null;
 
 		try {