diff --git a/src/org/jruby/RubyThread.java b/src/org/jruby/RubyThread.java
index cc0eefdf5b9..9ba1ee6adc1 100644
--- a/src/org/jruby/RubyThread.java
+++ b/src/org/jruby/RubyThread.java
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ public void pollThreadEvents() {
         }
     }
 
-    private RubyThread(Ruby runtime, RubyClass type) {
+    protected RubyThread(Ruby runtime, RubyClass type) {
         super(runtime, type);
         this.threadService = runtime.getThreadService();
         // set to default thread group