diff --git a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTableCell.java b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTableCell.java
index b5bb92ba32..d9d0a19b89 100644
--- a/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTableCell.java
+++ b/src/ooxml/java/org/apache/poi/xwpf/usermodel/XWPFTableCell.java
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ public class XWPFTableCell implements IBody, ICell {
      * returns a list of paragraphs
      */
     public List<XWPFParagraph> getParagraphs() {
-        return paragraphs;
+        return Collections.unmodifiableList(paragraphs);
     }
 
     /**