diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.c b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.c
index 79106bc23c..e696072d8c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.c
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.c
@@ -522,7 +522,21 @@ error:
   return ret;
 }
 
-int fuseConnect(const char *usrname, struct fuse_context *ctx,
+/**
+ * Get a libhdfs connection.
+ *
+ * If there is an existing connection, it will be reused.  If not, a new one
+ * will be created.
+ *
+ * You must call hdfsConnRelease on the connection you get back!
+ *
+ * @param usrname    The username to use
+ * @param ctx        The FUSE context to use (contains UID, PID of requestor)
+ * @param conn       (out param) The HDFS connection
+ *
+ * @return           0 on success; error code otherwise
+ */
+static int fuseConnect(const char *usrname, struct fuse_context *ctx,
                 struct hdfsConn **out)
 {
   int ret;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.h b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.h
index 35645c66b6..73b4f97a3a 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.h
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs-native-client/src/main/native/fuse-dfs/fuse_connect.h
@@ -39,25 +39,11 @@ int fuseConnectInit(const char *nnUri, int port);
  * Get a libhdfs connection.
  *
  * If there is an existing connection, it will be reused.  If not, a new one
- * will be created.
+ * will be created. The username will be determined from the FUSE thread
+ * context.
  *
  * You must call hdfsConnRelease on the connection you get back!
  *
- * @param usrname    The username to use
- * @param ctx        The FUSE context to use (contains UID, PID of requestor)
- * @param conn       (out param) The HDFS connection
- *
- * @return           0 on success; error code otherwise
- */
-int fuseConnect(const char *usrname, struct fuse_context *ctx,
-                struct hdfsConn **out);
-
-/**
- * Get a libhdfs connection.
- *
- * The same as fuseConnect, except the username will be determined from the FUSE
- * thread context.
- *
  * @param conn       (out param) The HDFS connection
  *
  * @return           0 on success; error code otherwise
diff --git a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
index 277152efdd..fd28c0211c 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/hadoop-hdfs-project/hadoop-hdfs/CHANGES.txt
@@ -1590,6 +1590,9 @@ Release 2.8.0 - UNRELEASED
     HDFS-9299. Give ReplicationMonitor a readable thread name (Staffan Friberg
     via Colin P. McCabe)
 
+    HDFS-9307. fuseConnect should be private to fuse_connect.c (Mingliang Liu
+    via Colin P. McCabe)
+
   OPTIMIZATIONS
 
     HDFS-8026. Trace FSOutputSummer#writeChecksumChunks rather than