diff --git a/core/trivial/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/trivial/host/impl/SimpleHostManager.java b/core/trivial/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/trivial/host/impl/SimpleHostManager.java
index 3e43dfd..07e1e31 100644
--- a/core/trivial/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/trivial/host/impl/SimpleHostManager.java
+++ b/core/trivial/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/net/trivial/host/impl/SimpleHostManager.java
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@
     private final SimpleHostStore store = new SimpleHostStore();
 
     @Reference(cardinality = ReferenceCardinality.MANDATORY_UNARY)
-    private EventDeliveryService eventDispatcher;
+    protected EventDeliveryService eventDispatcher;
 
 
     @Activate