diff --git a/ets2panda/checker/ETSAnalyzer.cpp b/ets2panda/checker/ETSAnalyzer.cpp
index 6f1a8fbd8357124d35c78616907ee3d60d3b859b..bff9f5dda6c8fc4a4386ceb5d0b0293c96b68b03 100644
--- a/ets2panda/checker/ETSAnalyzer.cpp
+++ b/ets2panda/checker/ETSAnalyzer.cpp
@@ -1842,7 +1842,11 @@ static Type *TransformTypeForMethodReference(ETSChecker *checker, ir::Expression
     auto &signatures = functionType->CallSignatures();
 
     if (signatures.at(0)->HasSignatureFlag(SignatureFlags::PRIVATE)) {
-        checker->LogError(diagnostic::PRIVATE_METHOD_AS_VALUE, getUseSite());
+        checker->LogError(diagnostic::PRIVATE_OR_PROTECTED_METHOD_AS_VALUE, {"Private"}, getUseSite());
+        return checker->GlobalTypeError();
+    }
+    if (signatures.at(0)->HasSignatureFlag(SignatureFlags::PROTECTED)) {
+        checker->LogError(diagnostic::PRIVATE_OR_PROTECTED_METHOD_AS_VALUE, {"Protected"}, getUseSite());
         return checker->GlobalTypeError();
     }
 
diff --git a/ets2panda/test/ast/compiler/ets/return_protected_function.ets b/ets2panda/test/ast/compiler/ets/return_protected_function.ets
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bdf2e5318a9108ff2e1dbbf530be0f7de1f0c031
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ets2panda/test/ast/compiler/ets/return_protected_function.ets
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2025 Huawei Device Co., Ltd.
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+
+class A{
+    protected static foo(){
+        return "foo";
+    }
+    static getfoo(){
+        return A./* @@ label */foo;
+    }
+};
+
+/* @@@ label Error TypeError: Protected method is used as value  */
diff --git a/ets2panda/util/diagnostic/semantic.yaml b/ets2panda/util/diagnostic/semantic.yaml
index 5289ec10e81b61a513e3c0a95e5d7e463016f3d4..48fa844f68cab0808baa1e609a2e89a85ba39289 100644
--- a/ets2panda/util/diagnostic/semantic.yaml
+++ b/ets2panda/util/diagnostic/semantic.yaml
@@ -1198,9 +1198,9 @@ semantic:
   id: 266
   message: "Precondition check failed for {}"
 
-- name: PRIVATE_METHOD_AS_VALUE
+- name: PRIVATE_OR_PROTECTED_METHOD_AS_VALUE
   id: 306
-  message: "Private method is used as value"
+  message: "{} method is used as value"
 
 - name: PROPERTY_CAPTURE
   id: 146