diff --git a/aleph-client/src/connections.rs b/aleph-client/src/connections.rs
index b21c1b54f8..61fbdb7496 100644
--- a/aleph-client/src/connections.rs
+++ b/aleph-client/src/connections.rs
@@ -339,8 +339,7 @@ impl Connection {
         }
     }
 
-    /// Casts self to the underlying RPC client.
-    pub fn as_client(&self) -> &SubxtClient {
+    pub(super) fn as_client(&self) -> &SubxtClient {
         &self.client
     }
 }
diff --git a/aleph-client/src/lib.rs b/aleph-client/src/lib.rs
index 74d232850f..912f985b0f 100644
--- a/aleph-client/src/lib.rs
+++ b/aleph-client/src/lib.rs
@@ -52,8 +52,7 @@ pub type Client = OnlineClient<AlephConfig>;
 /// An alias for a hash type.
 pub type BlockHash = H256;
 
-/// An alias for an RPC client type.
-pub type SubxtClient = OnlineClient<AlephConfig>;
+type SubxtClient = OnlineClient<AlephConfig>;
 
 pub use connections::{
     Connection, ConnectionApi, RootConnection, SignedConnection, SignedConnectionApi, SudoCall,