diff --git a/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.cc b/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.cc
index e8bb8a136..1d2869bda 100644
--- a/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.cc
+++ b/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.cc
@@ -287,9 +287,9 @@ WinRtmPipe::io_event(XorpFd fd, IoEventType type)
 // Observe routing sockets activity
 //
 
-struct WinRtmPipePlumber {
+class WinRtmPipePlumber {
     typedef WinRtmPipe::ObserverList ObserverList;
-
+    public:
     static void
     plumb(WinRtmPipe& r, WinRtmPipeObserver* o)
     {
diff --git a/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.hh b/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.hh
index 016852fd8..5315ce0b8 100644
--- a/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.hh
+++ b/xorp/fea/data_plane/control_socket/windows_rtm_pipe.hh
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #include "libxorp/exceptions.hh"
 
 class WinRtmPipeObserver;
-struct WinRtmPipePlumber;
+class WinRtmPipePlumber;
 
 /**
  * WinRtmPipe class opens a routing socket and forwards data arriving