diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Serializer.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Serializer.php
index 36752465ac149..ab60cec57e3b1 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Serializer.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Serializer.php
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ public function supportsDenormalization($data, $type, $format = null/*, array $c
      *
      * @return NormalizerInterface|null
      */
-    private function getNormalizer($data, $format, array $context)
+    protected function getNormalizer($data, $format, array $context)
     {
         foreach ($this->normalizers as $normalizer) {
             if ($normalizer instanceof NormalizerInterface && $normalizer->supportsNormalization($data, $format, $context)) {
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ private function getNormalizer($data, $format, array $context)
      *
      * @return DenormalizerInterface|null
      */
-    private function getDenormalizer($data, $class, $format, array $context)
+    protected function getDenormalizer($data, $class, $format, array $context)
     {
         foreach ($this->normalizers as $normalizer) {
             if ($normalizer instanceof DenormalizerInterface && $normalizer->supportsDenormalization($data, $class, $format, $context)) {