diff --git a/src/java/voldemort/serialization/json/JsonTypeDefinition.java b/src/java/voldemort/serialization/json/JsonTypeDefinition.java
index 878535d2ce..d98f82b003 100644
--- a/src/java/voldemort/serialization/json/JsonTypeDefinition.java
+++ b/src/java/voldemort/serialization/json/JsonTypeDefinition.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public class JsonTypeDefinition implements Serializable {
     private Object type;
 
     public JsonTypeDefinition(Object type) {
-        this.type = validate(type);
+        this.type = createValidType(type);
 
     }
 
@@ -162,17 +162,17 @@ public static String format(Object type) {
     }
 
     public void validate() {
-        validate(getType());
+        createValidType(getType());
     }
 
-    private Object validate(Object type) {
+    private Object createValidType(Object type) {
         if(type == null) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Type or subtype cannot be null.");
         } else if(type instanceof List<?>) {
             List<?> l = (List<?>) type;
             if(l.size() != 1)
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Lists in type definition must have length exactly one.");
-            return Arrays.asList(validate(l.get(0)));
+            return Arrays.asList(createValidType(l.get(0)));
         } else if(type instanceof Map<?, ?>) {
             Map<String, ?> m = (Map<String, ?>) type;
             // bbansal: sort keys here for consistent with fromJson()
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ private Object validate(Object type) {
             List<String> keys = new ArrayList<String>((m.keySet()));
             Collections.sort(keys);
             for(String key: keys)
-                newM.put(key, validate(m.get(key)));
+                newM.put(key, createValidType(m.get(key)));
             return newM;
         } else if(type instanceof JsonTypes) {
             // this is good