diff --git a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/api/ILSMIndexFileManager.java b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/api/ILSMIndexFileManager.java
index b3f7913..bc922fe 100644
--- a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/api/ILSMIndexFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/api/ILSMIndexFileManager.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import java.util.List;
 
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.exceptions.HyracksDataException;
-import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.api.io.FileReference;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.common.api.IndexException;
 import edu.uci.ics.hyracks.storage.am.lsm.common.impls.LSMComponentFileReferences;
 
@@ -35,10 +34,6 @@
 
     public void deleteDirs();
 
-    public FileReference createFlushFile(String relFlushFileName);
-
-    public FileReference createMergeFile(String relMergeFileName);
-
     public LSMComponentFileReferences getRelFlushFileReference();
 
     public LSMComponentFileReferences getRelMergeFileReference(String firstFileName, String lastFileName)
diff --git a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java
index 38694a3..5a38f98f 100644
--- a/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java
+++ b/hyracks-storage-am-lsm-common/src/main/java/edu/uci/ics/hyracks/storage/am/lsm/common/impls/AbstractLSMIndexFileManager.java
@@ -128,14 +128,14 @@
         f.delete();
     }
 
-    public FileReference createFlushFile(String relFlushFileName) {
+    protected FileReference createFlushFile(String relFlushFileName) {
         // Assigns new files to I/O devices in round-robin fashion.
         IODeviceHandle dev = ioManager.getIODevices().get(ioDeviceIndex);
         ioDeviceIndex = (ioDeviceIndex + 1) % ioManager.getIODevices().size();
         return dev.createFileReference(relFlushFileName);
     }
 
-    public FileReference createMergeFile(String relMergeFileName) {
+    protected FileReference createMergeFile(String relMergeFileName) {
         return createFlushFile(relMergeFileName);
     }