diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/criterion/SimpleExpression.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/criterion/SimpleExpression.java
index 5d377d78de..caee688755 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/criterion/SimpleExpression.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/criterion/SimpleExpression.java
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public class SimpleExpression implements Criterion {
 		this.op = op;
 	}
 
-	protected final String getOp() {
+	public final String getOp() {
 		return op;
 	}