diff --git a/lib/model.js b/lib/model.js
index cf44d678..3c39f2a6 100644
--- a/lib/model.js
+++ b/lib/model.js
@@ -321,6 +321,7 @@ ModelBaseClass.prototype.toObject = function (onlySchema, removeHidden, removePr
   var props = Model.definition.properties;
   var keys = Object.keys(props);
   var propertyName, val;
+
   for (var i = 0; i < keys.length; i++) {
     propertyName = keys[i];
     val = self[propertyName];
@@ -393,7 +394,7 @@ ModelBaseClass.prototype.toObject = function (onlySchema, removeHidden, removePr
         if (removeHidden && Model.isHiddenProperty(propertyName)) {
           continue;
         }
-        if (removeHidden && Model.isProtectedProperty(propertyName)) {
+        if (removeProtected && Model.isProtectedProperty(propertyName)) {
           continue;
         }
         var ownVal = self[propertyName];
@@ -416,11 +417,11 @@ ModelBaseClass.prototype.toObject = function (onlySchema, removeHidden, removePr
 };
 
 ModelBaseClass.isProtectedProperty = function (propertyName) {
-  var model = this;
+  var Model = this;
   var settings = Model.definition && Model.definition.settings;
-  var protectedProperties = settings & (settings.protectedProperties || settings.protected);
-
+  var protectedProperties = settings && (settings.protectedProperties || settings.protected);
   if (Array.isArray(protectedProperties)) {
+    // Cache the protected properties as an object for quick lookup
     settings.protectedProperties = {};
     for (var i = 0; i < protectedProperties.length; i++) {
       settings.protectedProperties[protectedProperties[i]] = true;
diff --git a/test/model-definition.test.js b/test/model-definition.test.js
index c81f518d..9f394f05 100644
--- a/test/model-definition.test.js
+++ b/test/model-definition.test.js
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ describe('ModelDefinition class', function () {
   });
 
   it('should serialize protected properties into JSON', function() {
-    var memory = new DataSoruce({connector: Memory});
+    var memory = new DataSource({connector: Memory});
     var modelBuilder = memory.modelBuilder;
     var ProtectedModel = memory.createModel('protected', {}, {
       protected: ['protectedProperty']
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ describe('ModelDefinition class', function () {
     });
   });
 
-  it('should not serialized protected properties of nested models into JSON', function(done){
+  it('should not serialize protected properties of nested models into JSON', function(done){
     var memory = new DataSource({connector: Memory});
     var modelBuilder = memory.modelBuilder;
     var Parent = memory.createModel('parent');