diff --git a/lib/erl/include/thrift_protocol_impl.hrl b/lib/erl/include/thrift_protocol_impl.hrl
index 92f3a00..ae0f0f7 100644
--- a/lib/erl/include/thrift_protocol_impl.hrl
+++ b/lib/erl/include/thrift_protocol_impl.hrl
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 -spec write(state(), term()) -> ok | {error, _Reason}.
 
-%% NOTE: Keep this in sync with thrift_protocol:read.
+%% NOTE: Keep this in sync with thrift_protocol:read and read_specific.
 -spec read
         (state(), tprot_empty_tag()) ->   ok                | {error, _Reason};
         (state(), tprot_header_tag()) -> tprot_header_val() | {error, _Reason};
diff --git a/lib/erl/src/thrift_protocol.erl b/lib/erl/src/thrift_protocol.erl
index a207bca..3da526c 100644
--- a/lib/erl/src/thrift_protocol.erl
+++ b/lib/erl/src/thrift_protocol.erl
@@ -158,8 +158,16 @@
     ok = read(IProto, set_end),
     {ok, sets:from_list(List)};
 
-read(#protocol{module = Module,
-               data = ModuleData}, ProtocolType) ->
+read(Protocol, ProtocolType) ->
+    read_specific(Protocol, ProtocolType).
+
+%% NOTE: Keep this in sync with thrift_protocol_impl:read
+-spec read_specific
+        (#protocol{}, tprot_empty_tag()) ->   ok                | {error, _Reason};
+        (#protocol{}, tprot_header_tag()) -> tprot_header_val() | {error, _Reason};
+        (#protocol{}, tprot_data_tag()) ->   {ok, term()}       | {error, _Reason}.
+read_specific(#protocol{module = Module,
+                        data = ModuleData}, ProtocolType) ->
     Module:read(ModuleData, ProtocolType).
 
 read_struct_loop(IProto, SDict, RTuple) ->