- the SINGLETON field in StaticLoggerBinder is now private
diff --git a/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/LoggerFactory.java b/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/LoggerFactory.java
index 96858a9..8df4398 100644
--- a/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/LoggerFactory.java
+++ b/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/LoggerFactory.java
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@
 
   private final static StaticLoggerBinder getSingleton() {
     if (GET_SINGLETON_METHOD == GET_SINGLETON_INEXISTENT) {
-      return StaticLoggerBinder.SINGLETON;
+      return StaticLoggerBinder.getSingleton();
     }
 
     if (GET_SINGLETON_METHOD == GET_SINGLETON_EXISTS) {
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@
       return singleton;
     } catch (NoSuchMethodError nsme) {
       GET_SINGLETON_METHOD = GET_SINGLETON_INEXISTENT;
-      return StaticLoggerBinder.SINGLETON;
+      return StaticLoggerBinder.getSingleton();
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/impl/StaticLoggerBinder.java b/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/impl/StaticLoggerBinder.java
index 672058e..5f1c2b7 100644
--- a/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/impl/StaticLoggerBinder.java
+++ b/slf4j-api/src/main/java/org/slf4j/impl/StaticLoggerBinder.java
@@ -40,12 +40,8 @@
  
   /**
    * The unique instance of this class.
-   * 
-   * @deprecated Please use the {@link #getSingleton()} method instead of
-   *             accessing this field directly. In future versions, this field
-   *             will become private.
    */
-  public static final StaticLoggerBinder SINGLETON = new StaticLoggerBinder();
+  private static final StaticLoggerBinder SINGLETON = new StaticLoggerBinder();
   
   /**
    * Return the singleton of this class.