diff -r 328a7b5211ba -r 72dca0b5d7fc libpurple/connection.c
--- a/libpurple/connection.c	Fri Oct 31 04:03:44 2008 +0000
+++ b/libpurple/connection.c	Fri Oct 31 17:46:39 2008 +0000
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@
 	buddies = purple_find_buddies(account, NULL);
 	while (buddies != NULL) {
 		PurpleBuddy *buddy = buddies->data;
-		buddy->proto_data = NULL;
+		purple_buddy_set_protocol_data(buddy, NULL);
 		buddies = g_slist_delete_link(buddies, buddies);
 	}
 
@@ -427,6 +427,13 @@
 	gc->display_name = g_strdup(name);
 }
 
+void
+purple_connection_set_protocol_data(PurpleConnection *connection, void *proto_data) {
+	g_return_if_fail(connection != NULL);
+
+	connection->proto_data = proto_data;
+}
+
 PurpleConnectionState
 purple_connection_get_state(const PurpleConnection *gc)
 {
@@ -467,6 +474,13 @@
 	return gc->display_name;
 }
 
+void *
+purple_connection_get_protocol_data(const PurpleConnection *connection) {
+	g_return_val_if_fail(connection != NULL, NULL);
+
+	return connection->proto_data;
+}
+
 void
 purple_connection_update_progress(PurpleConnection *gc, const char *text,
 								size_t step, size_t count)