diff --git a/MODULE.bazel b/MODULE.bazel
index 8b5ec56b..a9c1d027 100644
--- a/MODULE.bazel
+++ b/MODULE.bazel
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ module(
 
 bazel_dep(name = "bazel_skylib", version = "1.7.1")
 bazel_dep(name = "platforms", version = "0.0.10")
+bazel_dep(name = "protobuf", version = "27.0")
 
 cc_configure = use_extension("//cc:extensions.bzl", "cc_configure_extension")
 use_repo(cc_configure, "local_config_cc", "local_config_cc_toolchains")
diff --git a/cc/WORKSPACE.bzlmod b/cc/WORKSPACE.bzlmod
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0947211b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cc/WORKSPACE.bzlmod
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# A completely empty WORKSPACE file to replace the original WORKSPACE content when enabling Bzlmod.
+# No WORKSPACE prefix or suffix are added for this file.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cc/defs.bzl b/cc/defs.bzl
index a09ec032..404a63ed 100644
--- a/cc/defs.bzl
+++ b/cc/defs.bzl
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 """Starlark rules for building C++ projects."""
 
+load("@protobuf//bazel:cc_proto_library.bzl", _cc_proto_library = "cc_proto_library")
 load("//cc:cc_binary.bzl", _cc_binary = "cc_binary")
 load("//cc:cc_import.bzl", _cc_import = "cc_import")
 load("//cc:cc_library.bzl", _cc_library = "cc_library")
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ cc_shared_library = _cc_shared_library
 objc_library = _objc_library
 objc_import = _objc_import
 
-cc_proto_library = native.cc_proto_library  # For compatibility with current users
+cc_proto_library = _cc_proto_library  # For compatibility with current users
 
 # Toolchain rules