diff --git a/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/processor/MethodRetrievalProcessor.java b/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/processor/MethodRetrievalProcessor.java
index 62a9857e9..399c706a5 100644
--- a/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/processor/MethodRetrievalProcessor.java
+++ b/processor/src/main/java/org/mapstruct/ap/processor/MethodRetrievalProcessor.java
@@ -240,11 +240,12 @@ public class MethodRetrievalProcessor implements ModelElementProcessor<Void, Lis
             return false;
         }
         else if ( method.getModifiers().contains( Modifier.PROTECTED ) ) {
-            return mapperToImplement.isAssignableTo( usedMapper );
+            return mapperToImplement.isAssignableTo( usedMapper ) ||
+                    mapperToImplement.getPackageName().equals( usedMapper.getPackageName() );
         }
         else if ( !method.getModifiers().contains( Modifier.PUBLIC ) ) {
             // default
-            return mapperToImplement.getPackageName().equals( usedMapper.getPackageName());
+            return mapperToImplement.getPackageName().equals( usedMapper.getPackageName() );
         }
         // public
         return true;
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedAccessibilityTest.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedAccessibilityTest.java
index a3a8f1069..95034e564 100644
--- a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedAccessibilityTest.java
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedAccessibilityTest.java
@@ -58,6 +58,11 @@ public class ReferencedAccessibilityTest {
     @WithClasses( { SourceTargetMapperDefaultSame.class, ReferencedMapperDefaultSame.class } )
     public void shouldBeAbleToAccessDefaultMethodInReferencedInSamePackage() throws Exception { }
 
+    @Test
+    @IssueKey( "206" )
+    @WithClasses( { SourceTargetMapperProtected.class, ReferencedMapperProtected.class } )
+    public void shouldBeAbleToAccessProtectedMethodInReferencedInSamePackage() throws Exception { }
+
     @Test
     @IssueKey( "206" )
     @WithClasses( { SourceTargetMapperDefaultOther.class, ReferencedMapperDefaultOther.class } )
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedMapperProtected.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedMapperProtected.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bd17c33ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/ReferencedMapperProtected.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2014 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.accessibility.referenced;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+public class ReferencedMapperProtected {
+
+    protected ReferencedTarget sourceToTarget( ReferencedSource source ) {
+        ReferencedTarget target = new ReferencedTarget();
+        target.setFoo( source.getFoo() );
+        return target;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/SourceTargetMapperProtected.java b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/SourceTargetMapperProtected.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f4a2fea71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/processor/src/test/java/org/mapstruct/ap/test/accessibility/referenced/SourceTargetMapperProtected.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/**
+ *  Copyright 2012-2014 Gunnar Morling (http://www.gunnarmorling.de/)
+ *  and/or other contributors as indicated by the @authors tag. See the
+ *  copyright.txt file in the distribution for a full listing of all
+ *  contributors.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ *  limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.mapstruct.ap.test.accessibility.referenced;
+
+import org.mapstruct.Mapper;
+import org.mapstruct.Mapping;
+import org.mapstruct.factory.Mappers;
+
+/**
+ *
+ * @author Sjaak Derksen
+ */
+@Mapper(uses = ReferencedMapperProtected.class)
+public interface SourceTargetMapperProtected {
+
+    SourceTargetMapperProtected INSTANCE = Mappers.getMapper( SourceTargetMapperProtected.class );
+
+    @Mapping(source = "referencedSource", target = "referencedTarget")
+    Target toTarget(Source source);
+}