diff --git a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/settingsaccessor.h b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/settingsaccessor.h
index ae2c75b09325c1b8605826341ccade4529399dbc..618a5984621d726403cdc20f4482571a3a98572a 100644
--- a/src/plugins/projectexplorer/settingsaccessor.h
+++ b/src/plugins/projectexplorer/settingsaccessor.h
@@ -61,6 +61,11 @@ public:
     static QVariantMap setOriginalVersionInMap(const QVariantMap &data, int version);
 
     void addVersionUpgrader(Internal::VersionUpgrader *handler); // Takes ownership of the handler!
+
+protected:
+    QVariantMap readFile(const Utils::FileName &path) const;
+    QVariantMap upgradeSettings(const QVariantMap &data, int toVersion) const;
+
 private:
     QStringList findSettingsFiles(const QString &suffix) const;
     static QByteArray creatorId();
@@ -68,14 +73,10 @@ private:
     int currentVersion() const;
     void backupUserFile() const;
 
-    QVariantMap upgradeSettings(const QVariantMap &data, int toVersion) const;
-
     QVariantMap readUserSettings(QWidget *parent) const;
     QVariantMap readSharedSettings(QWidget *parent) const;
     QVariantMap mergeSettings(const QVariantMap &userMap, const QVariantMap &sharedMap) const;
 
-    QVariantMap readFile(const Utils::FileName &path) const;
-
     static QByteArray environmentIdFromMap(const QVariantMap &data);
 
     int m_firstVersion;