diff --git a/gtsam/discrete/TableFactor.h b/gtsam/discrete/TableFactor.h
index d27c4740c..5ddb4ab43 100644
--- a/gtsam/discrete/TableFactor.h
+++ b/gtsam/discrete/TableFactor.h
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ class GTSAM_EXPORT TableFactor : public DiscreteFactor {
   typedef Eigen::SparseVector<double>::InnerIterator SparseIt;
   typedef std::vector<std::pair<DiscreteValues, double>> AssignValList;
 
- public:
   /// @name Standard Constructors
   /// @{
 
@@ -156,6 +155,9 @@ class GTSAM_EXPORT TableFactor : public DiscreteFactor {
   // /// @name Standard Interface
   // /// @{
 
+  /// Getter for the underlying sparse vector
+  Eigen::SparseVector<double> sparseTable() const { return sparse_table_; }
+
   /// Evaluate probability distribution, is just look up in TableFactor.
   double evaluate(const Assignment<Key>& values) const override;