diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/editor/CEditor.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/editor/CEditor.java
index 21420fc4577..ac350b3e37d 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/editor/CEditor.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/ui/editor/CEditor.java
@@ -3226,7 +3226,7 @@ public class CEditor extends TextEditor implements ISelectionChangedListener, IC
 	 *
 	 * @since 4.0
 	 */
-	private boolean isSemanticHighlightingEnabled() {
+	protected boolean isSemanticHighlightingEnabled() {
 		return SemanticHighlightings.isEnabled(getPreferenceStore()) && !(isEnableScalablilityMode() && getPreferenceStore().getBoolean(PreferenceConstants.SCALABILITY_SEMANTIC_HIGHLIGHT));
 	}