diff --git a/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/sax/AbstractXmlReader.java b/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/sax/AbstractXmlReader.java
index a411b087..821f4200 100644
--- a/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/sax/AbstractXmlReader.java
+++ b/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/sax/AbstractXmlReader.java
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ import org.xml.sax.SAXNotRecognizedException;
 import org.xml.sax.XMLReader;
 
 /**
- * Abstract base class for SAX <code>XMLReader</code> implementations.
+ * Abstract base class for SAX <code>XMLReader</code> implementations. Contains properties as defined in {@link
+ * XMLReader}, and does not recognize any features
  *
  * @author Arjen Poutsma
  * @see #setContentHandler(org.xml.sax.ContentHandler)
@@ -36,11 +37,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractXmlReader implements XMLReader {
 
     private DTDHandler dtdHandler;
 
-    protected ContentHandler contentHandler;
+    private ContentHandler contentHandler;
 
     private EntityResolver entityResolver;
 
-    protected ErrorHandler errorHandler;
+    private ErrorHandler errorHandler;
 
     public ContentHandler getContentHandler() {
         return contentHandler;
diff --git a/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/stream/StaxXmlReader.java b/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/stream/StaxXmlReader.java
index 97dba09d..955558fd 100644
--- a/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/stream/StaxXmlReader.java
+++ b/xml/src/main/java/org/springframework/xml/stream/StaxXmlReader.java
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ public abstract class StaxXmlReader extends AbstractXmlReader {
         catch (XMLStreamException ex) {
             SAXParseException saxException = new SAXParseException(ex.getMessage(), null, null,
                     ex.getLocation().getLineNumber(), ex.getLocation().getColumnNumber(), ex);
-            if (errorHandler != null) {
-                errorHandler.fatalError(saxException);
+            if (getErrorHandler() != null) {
+                getErrorHandler().fatalError(saxException);
             }
             else {
                 throw saxException;
@@ -84,14 +84,12 @@ public abstract class StaxXmlReader extends AbstractXmlReader {
      * @see ContentHandler#setDocumentLocator(org.xml.sax.Locator)
      */
     protected void setLocator(Location location) {
-        if (contentHandler != null) {
-            contentHandler.setDocumentLocator(new StaxLocator(location));
+        if (getContentHandler() != null) {
+            getContentHandler().setDocumentLocator(new StaxLocator(location));
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Template-method that parses the StAX reader passed at construction-time.
-     */
+    /** Template-method that parses the StAX reader passed at construction-time. */
     protected abstract void parseInternal() throws SAXException, XMLStreamException;
 
     /**