diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index bad9d7ba..7e5f9f3e 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ NEWS ( CHANGELOG and HISTORY )                                     HTMLPurifier
   %Attr.ForbiddenClasses, which is the logical inverse.
 - Fix bug where URIDefinition would not get cleared if it's directives got
   changed.
+- Fix fatal error in HTMLPurifier_Encoder on certain platforms (probably NetBSD 5.0)
 . Created script maintenance/rename-config.php for renaming a configuration
   directive while maintaining its alias.  This script does not change source code.
 . Implement namespace locking for definition construction, to prevent
diff --git a/library/HTMLPurifier/Encoder.php b/library/HTMLPurifier/Encoder.php
index 201afc6e..2b3140ca 100644
--- a/library/HTMLPurifier/Encoder.php
+++ b/library/HTMLPurifier/Encoder.php
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ class HTMLPurifier_Encoder
     /**
      * Error-handler that mutes errors, alternative to shut-up operator.
      */
-    private static function muteErrorHandler() {}
+    public static function muteErrorHandler() {}
 
     /**
      * Cleans a UTF-8 string for well-formedness and SGML validity