diff --git a/changelog.md b/changelog.md
index 6715320..c380e03 100644
--- a/changelog.md
+++ b/changelog.md
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [5.2.0] - 2026-05-19
+### *Changes*
+- Make JsonMessageHandler<T>.HandleAsync(T, headers, ct) public instead of protected, allowing consuming applications to unit test their handler implementations directly with typed payloads rather than having to construct serialised Message objects
+
 ## [5.1.0] - 2026-05-18
 ### *Changes*
 - Add JsonMessageHandler<T> abstract base class for type-safe message consumption with automatic JSON deserialization
diff --git a/src/JsonMessageHandler.cs b/src/JsonMessageHandler.cs
index ecfc6fc..3656651 100644
--- a/src/JsonMessageHandler.cs
+++ b/src/JsonMessageHandler.cs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ public async Task HandleAsync(Message message, CancellationToken cancellationTok
         await HandleAsync(payload, message.Headers, cancellationToken);
     }
 
-    protected abstract Task HandleAsync(
+    public abstract Task HandleAsync(
         T payload,
         IReadOnlyDictionary<string, object> headers,
         CancellationToken cancellationToken);
diff --git a/src/Linn.Common.Messaging.RabbitMQ.csproj b/src/Linn.Common.Messaging.RabbitMQ.csproj
index 5d7ade0..6b37234 100644
--- a/src/Linn.Common.Messaging.RabbitMQ.csproj
+++ b/src/Linn.Common.Messaging.RabbitMQ.csproj
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 		<ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
 		<AssemblyName>Linn.Common.Messaging.RabbitMQ</AssemblyName>
 		<PackageId>Linn.Common.Messaging.RabbitMQ</PackageId>
-		<Version>5.1.0</Version>
+		<Version>5.2.0</Version>
 	  <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
 	</PropertyGroup>
 	<ItemGroup>