diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/its/base/its/InitIts.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/its/base/its/InitIts.java
index ef13ddd..1cd2b74 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/its/base/its/InitIts.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/its/base/its/InitIts.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 
 public class InitIts implements InitStep {
 
-  public static String COMMENT_LINK_SECTION = "commentlink";
+  protected static final String COMMENT_LINK_SECTION = "commentlink";
 
   public static enum TrueFalseEnum {
     TRUE,