diff --git a/src/main/java/spoon/Launcher.java b/src/main/java/spoon/Launcher.java
index 4f2996eed8d..b099a0a9da2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/spoon/Launcher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/spoon/Launcher.java
@@ -596,7 +596,7 @@ protected JSAPResult parseArgs() {
 	 * 		the factory this compiler works on
 	 */
 	public SpoonModelBuilder createCompiler(Factory factory) {
-		SpoonModelBuilder comp = new JDTBasedSpoonCompiler(factory);
+		SpoonModelBuilder comp = getCompilerInstance(factory);
 		Environment env = getEnvironment();
 		// building
 		comp.setBinaryOutputDirectory(jsapActualArgs.getFile("destination"));
@@ -614,6 +614,17 @@ public SpoonModelBuilder createCompiler(Factory factory) {
 		return comp;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Instantiates the compiler. This method is invoked by {@link #createCompiler(Factory)} to retrieve
+	 * an empty compiler instance. Clients can override this method to use their custom compiler implementation.
+	 * @param factory the factory to pass on to the compiler.
+	 * @return a new compiler.
+	 * @see #createCompiler(Factory)
+	 */
+	protected SpoonModelBuilder getCompilerInstance(Factory factory) {
+		return new JDTBasedSpoonCompiler(factory);
+	}
+
 	public SpoonModelBuilder createCompiler(Factory factory, List<SpoonResource> inputSources) {
 		SpoonModelBuilder c = createCompiler(factory);
 		c.addInputSources(inputSources);
diff --git a/src/main/java/spoon/support/compiler/jdt/JDTBasedSpoonCompiler.java b/src/main/java/spoon/support/compiler/jdt/JDTBasedSpoonCompiler.java
index 92f6c200e47..e92bb0afe17 100644
--- a/src/main/java/spoon/support/compiler/jdt/JDTBasedSpoonCompiler.java
+++ b/src/main/java/spoon/support/compiler/jdt/JDTBasedSpoonCompiler.java
@@ -11,8 +11,10 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
 import org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.CategorizedProblem;
 import org.eclipse.jdt.core.compiler.IProblem;
+import org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.ASTVisitor;
 import org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.ast.CompilationUnitDeclaration;
 import org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.env.INameEnvironment;
+import org.eclipse.jdt.internal.compiler.lookup.CompilationUnitScope;
 import spoon.OutputType;
 import spoon.SpoonException;
 import spoon.compiler.Environment;
@@ -432,7 +434,7 @@ protected void buildModel(CompilationUnitDeclaration[] units, Factory aFactory)
 
 		forEachCompilationUnit(unitList, SpoonProgress.Process.MODEL, unit -> {
 			// we need first to go through the whole model before getting the right reference for imports
-			unit.traverse(builder, unit.scope);
+			traverseUnitDeclaration(builder, unit);
 		});
 		//we need first imports before we can place comments. Mainly comments on imports need that
 		forEachCompilationUnit(unitList, SpoonProgress.Process.IMPORT, unit -> {
@@ -461,12 +463,24 @@ private void forEachCompilationUnit(List<CompilationUnitDeclaration> unitList, S
 				if (canProcessCompilationUnit(unitPath)) {
 					consumer.accept(unit);
 				}
-					getEnvironment().getSpoonProgress().step(process, unitPath, ++i, unitList.size());
+				getEnvironment().getSpoonProgress().step(process, unitPath, ++i, unitList.size());
 			}
 		}
-			getEnvironment().getSpoonProgress().end(process);
+		getEnvironment().getSpoonProgress().end(process);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Invokes the traversal of the given compilation unit declaration using the given builder as a visitor.
+	 * Overriders of this method must either invoke {@link CompilationUnitDeclaration#traverse(ASTVisitor, CompilationUnitScope)})} )}
+	 * or this method before returning.
+	 * @param builder the builder to use to traverse the unit.
+	 * @param unitDeclaration the unit declaration.
+	 */
+	protected void traverseUnitDeclaration(JDTTreeBuilder builder, CompilationUnitDeclaration unitDeclaration) {
+		unitDeclaration.traverse(builder, unitDeclaration.scope);
+	}
+
+
 	private boolean canProcessCompilationUnit(String unitPath) {
 		for (final CompilationUnitFilter cuf : compilationUnitFilters) {
 			if (cuf.exclude(unitPath)) {