diff --git a/hooks-its/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/hooks/validation/ItsValidateComment.java b/hooks-its/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/hooks/validation/ItsValidateComment.java
index fab325b..984e9e8 100644
--- a/hooks-its/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/hooks/validation/ItsValidateComment.java
+++ b/hooks-its/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/hooks/validation/ItsValidateComment.java
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
   @Inject
   private IssueExtractor issueExtractor;
 
-  public List<CommitValidationMessage> validCommit(ReceiveCommand cmd, RevCommit commit) throws CommitValidationException {
+  private List<CommitValidationMessage> validCommit(ReceiveCommand cmd, RevCommit commit) throws CommitValidationException {
     List<CommitValidationMessage> ret = Lists.newArrayList();
     ItsAssociationPolicy associationPolicy = getItsAssociationPolicy();