diff --git a/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/legacy/LegacyHiveTable.java b/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/legacy/LegacyHiveTable.java
index d481e5937f..d694cef7a0 100644
--- a/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/legacy/LegacyHiveTable.java
+++ b/hive/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/hive/legacy/LegacyHiveTable.java
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public class LegacyHiveTable implements Table, HasTableOperations {
   private final TableOperations ops;
   private final String name;
 
-  LegacyHiveTable(TableOperations ops, String name) {
+  protected LegacyHiveTable(TableOperations ops, String name) {
     this.ops = ops;
     this.name = name;
   }