diff --git a/lib/SimpleSAML/Auth/Default.php b/lib/SimpleSAML/Auth/Default.php
index 395809f558648ce56cc833dea9711770df447ad9..e8a07e12c0a83e962a7740f9b88ce3c4f8a39cf5 100644
--- a/lib/SimpleSAML/Auth/Default.php
+++ b/lib/SimpleSAML/Auth/Default.php
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class SimpleSAML_Auth_Default {
 	 * @param array $state  The state after the login.
 	 * @return array  The persistent authentication state.
 	 */
-	private static function extractPersistentAuthState(array &$state) {
+	public static function extractPersistentAuthState(array &$state) {
 
 		/* Save persistent authentication data. */
 		$persistentAuthState = array();