diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/PropertyProtectionType.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/PropertyProtectionType.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a101cb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/PropertyProtectionType.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.nifi.components.connector;
+
+/**
+ * Indicates whether a {@link Secret} may be referenced only by sensitive properties or may also
+ * be referenced by non-sensitive properties.
+ */
+public enum PropertyProtectionType {
+
+    /**
+     * The secret may only be referenced by sensitive properties, that is, properties declared
+     * with {@link PropertyType#SECRET}. This is the default classification.
+     */
+    RESTRICTED,
+
+    /**
+     * The owner of the secret has authorized it to be referenced by any property, including
+     * non-sensitive properties.
+     */
+    UNRESTRICTED
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/Secret.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/Secret.java
index c11598a..58d6a44 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/Secret.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/components/connector/Secret.java
@@ -33,4 +33,15 @@ public interface Secret {
 
     String getFullyQualifiedName();
 
+    /**
+     * Indicates whether this secret may be referenced only by sensitive properties or may also be
+     * referenced by non-sensitive properties. Defaults to {@link PropertyProtectionType#RESTRICTED},
+     * preserving the behavior that a secret may only be referenced by sensitive properties.
+     *
+     * @return the property protection type for this secret; never null
+     */
+    default PropertyProtectionType getPropertyProtectionType() {
+        return PropertyProtectionType.RESTRICTED;
+    }
+
 }