diff --git a/asterixdb-jdbc/asterix-jdbc-core/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/jdbc/core/ADBDriverBase.java b/asterixdb-jdbc/asterix-jdbc-core/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/jdbc/core/ADBDriverBase.java
index ce4f336..613c3a9 100644
--- a/asterixdb-jdbc/asterix-jdbc-core/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/jdbc/core/ADBDriverBase.java
+++ b/asterixdb-jdbc/asterix-jdbc-core/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/jdbc/core/ADBDriverBase.java
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@
         return Logger.getLogger(getClass().getName());
     }
 
-    private ADBDriverContext getOrCreateDriverContext() {
+    protected ADBDriverContext getOrCreateDriverContext() {
         ADBDriverContext ctx = context;
         if (ctx == null) {
             synchronized (this) {