diff --git a/client/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/client/rest/RestService.java b/client/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/client/rest/RestService.java
index 53bb137e3d0..a8101baa2e1 100644
--- a/client/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/client/rest/RestService.java
+++ b/client/src/main/java/io/confluent/kafka/schemaregistry/client/rest/RestService.java
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ private <T> T sendHttpRequest(String requestUrl, String method, byte[] requestBo
     }
   }
 
-  private HttpURLConnection buildConnection(URL url, String method, Map<String,
+  protected HttpURLConnection buildConnection(URL url, String method, Map<String,
                                             String> requestProperties)
       throws IOException {
     HttpURLConnection connection = null;