diff --git a/actionpack/CHANGELOG b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
index 9343c00c12e..1453bd97043 100644
--- a/actionpack/CHANGELOG
+++ b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Added the possibility of having validate be protected for assert_(in)valid_column #263 [Tobias Luetke]
+
 * Added that ActiveRecordHelper#form now calls url_for on the :action option.
 
 * Added all the HTTP methods as alternatives to the generic "process" for functional testing #276 [Tobias Luetke]. Examples:
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions/active_record_assertions.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions/active_record_assertions.rb
index 9167eae53e9..cdc9b6951dd 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions/active_record_assertions.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/assertions/active_record_assertions.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ module Test #:nodoc:
       # Assert the template object with the given name is an Active Record descendant and the specified column(s) are valid.
       def assert_valid_column_on_record(key = nil, columns = "", message = nil)
         record = find_record_in_template(key)
-        record.validate
+        record.send(:validate)
 
         cols = glue_columns(columns)
         cols.delete_if { |col| !record.errors.invalid?(col) }
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ module Test #:nodoc:
       # Assert the template object with the given name is an Active Record descendant and the specified column(s) are invalid.
       def assert_invalid_column_on_record(key = nil, columns = "", message = nil)
         record = find_record_in_template(key)
-        record.validate
+        record.send(:validate)
 
         cols = glue_columns(columns)
         cols.delete_if { |col| record.errors.invalid?(col) }
diff --git a/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb b/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb
index 53106aaee7a..2a005b8586c 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/controller/active_record_assertions_test.rb
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ require 'fixtures/company'
 
 # add some validation rules to trip up the assertions
 class Company
-  def validate
-    errors.add_on_empty('name')
-    errors.add('rating', 'rating should not be 2') if rating == 2
-    errors.add_to_base('oh oh') if rating == 3
-  end  
+  protected
+    def validate
+      errors.add_on_empty('name')
+      errors.add('rating', 'rating should not be 2') if rating == 2
+      errors.add_to_base('oh oh') if rating == 3
+    end  
 end
 
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------