diff --git a/framework/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/framework/ExtensionManager.java b/framework/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/framework/ExtensionManager.java
index fde5379..caedc7d 100644
--- a/framework/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/framework/ExtensionManager.java
+++ b/framework/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/framework/ExtensionManager.java
@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@
      * See whether any registered extension provides the class requested. If not
      * throw an IOException.
      */
-    protected synchronized URLConnection openConnection(URL url) throws IOException
+    public synchronized URLConnection openConnection(URL url) throws IOException
     {
         String path = url.getPath();