diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d1d5d5770..0f0f77139 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ The changelog for `MessageKit`. Also see the [releases](https://github.com/Messa
 - **Breaking Change** `InputTextView`'s `UITextViewDelegate` is now set to `self`
 [#173](https://github.com/MessageKit/MessageKit/pull/173) by [@nathantannar4](https://github.com/nathantannar4).
 
+- `configure` method of all `MessageCollectionViewCell` types to be marked as `open`.
+[#200](https://github.com/MessageKit/MessageKit/pull/200) by [@SD10](https://github.com/sd10).
+
+
 ### Removed
 - **Breaking Change** `cellTopLabelInsets` and `cellBottomLabelInsets` from `MessagesCollectionViewFlowLayout`.
 [#166](https://github.com/MessageKit/MessageKit/pull/166) by [@SD10](https://github.com/SD10).
diff --git a/Sources/MessageCollectionViewCell.swift b/Sources/MessageCollectionViewCell.swift
index 0defa0923..e7b9c666a 100644
--- a/Sources/MessageCollectionViewCell.swift
+++ b/Sources/MessageCollectionViewCell.swift
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ open class MessageCollectionViewCell<ContentView: UIView>: UICollectionViewCell
         cellBottomLabel.attributedText = nil
     }
 
-    public func configure(with message: MessageType, at indexPath: IndexPath, and messagesCollectionView: MessagesCollectionView) {
+    open func configure(with message: MessageType, at indexPath: IndexPath, and messagesCollectionView: MessagesCollectionView) {
 
         // Check if delegate has already been set to reduce number of assignments
         if delegate == nil, let cellDelegate = messagesCollectionView.messageCellDelegate {
diff --git a/Sources/TextMessageCell.swift b/Sources/TextMessageCell.swift
index 3662d651c..2c0c64e0d 100644
--- a/Sources/TextMessageCell.swift
+++ b/Sources/TextMessageCell.swift
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ open class TextMessageCell: MessageCollectionViewCell<MessageLabel> {
         messageContentView.text = nil
     }
 
-    public override func configure(with message: MessageType, at indexPath: IndexPath, and messagesCollectionView: MessagesCollectionView) {
+    open override func configure(with message: MessageType, at indexPath: IndexPath, and messagesCollectionView: MessagesCollectionView) {
         super.configure(with: message, at: indexPath, and: messagesCollectionView)
 
         if let displayDelegate = messagesCollectionView.messagesDisplayDelegate {