diff --git a/src/libs/clangsupport/filepathview.h b/src/libs/clangsupport/filepathview.h
index 7b6f35e384b..e696ef4496f 100644
--- a/src/libs/clangsupport/filepathview.h
+++ b/src/libs/clangsupport/filepathview.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 namespace ClangBackEnd {
 
 template <char WindowsSlash>
-class AbstractFilePathView : protected Utils::SmallStringView
+class AbstractFilePathView : public Utils::SmallStringView
 {
 public:
     explicit AbstractFilePathView(const char *const string, const size_type size) noexcept