diff --git a/android-interop-testing/build.gradle b/android-interop-testing/build.gradle
index 17551465f05..dc8f521dd7a 100644
--- a/android-interop-testing/build.gradle
+++ b/android-interop-testing/build.gradle
@@ -79,7 +79,6 @@ dependencies {
             libraries.opencensus.contrib.grpc.metrics
 
     implementation (project(':grpc-services')) {
-        exclude group: 'com.google.protobuf'
         exclude group: 'com.google.guava'
     }