diff --git a/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/handle.hpp b/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/handle.hpp
index 386aee7992..ac75c91edc 100644
--- a/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/handle.hpp
+++ b/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/handle.hpp
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ class HandleInterface
   std::shared_ptr<rclcpp_lifecycle::LifecycleNode> node_;
 };
 
-class ReadOnlyHandle : public HandleInterface, ReadHandleInterface
+class ReadOnlyHandle : public HandleInterface, public ReadHandleInterface
 {
 public:
   ReadOnlyHandle(
@@ -273,7 +273,9 @@ class DistributedStateInterface : public DistributedReadOnlyHandle
   using DistributedReadOnlyHandle::DistributedReadOnlyHandle;
 };
 
-class ReadWriteHandle : public HandleInterface, ReadHandleInterface, WriteHandleInterface
+class ReadWriteHandle : public HandleInterface,
+                        public ReadHandleInterface,
+                        public WriteHandleInterface
 {
 public:
   ReadWriteHandle(