diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/WeakishReference.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/WeakishReference.java
index 89203e934..0480dc7d8 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/WeakishReference.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/util/WeakishReference.java
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ public abstract class WeakishReference  {
     /**
      * A hard reference for Java 1.1
      */
-    private static class HardReference extends WeakishReference {
+    public static class HardReference extends WeakishReference {
         private Object object;
 
         /**