diff --git a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
index d4957abb0a..2f9d2ad9ee 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
@@ -810,7 +810,8 @@ class ElementContext {
   }
 }
 
-function createElementCssSelector(elementName: string, matchableAttrs: string[][]): CssSelector {
+export function createElementCssSelector(
+    elementName: string, matchableAttrs: string[][]): CssSelector {
   const cssSelector = new CssSelector();
   const elNameNoNs = splitNsName(elementName)[1];