diff --git a/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree.h b/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree.h
index 43859f3d30..f81029ba5b 100644
--- a/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree.h
+++ b/gtsam/inference/ClusterTree.h
@@ -166,9 +166,9 @@ class ClusterTree {
 
   /// @}
 
+ protected:
   ~ClusterTree();
 
- protected:
   /// @name Details
   /// @{
 
diff --git a/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree.h b/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree.h
index 724c686083..557be16750 100644
--- a/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree.h
+++ b/gtsam/inference/EliminationTree.h
@@ -117,8 +117,10 @@ namespace gtsam {
 
     /// @}
 
-  public:
+  protected:
     ~EliminationTree(); 
+
+  public:
     /// @name Standard Interface
     /// @{