diff --git a/tools/inspector_protocol/code_generator.py b/tools/inspector_protocol/code_generator.py
index c1f78dc7492d78..0b8baea0ae710e 100755
--- a/tools/inspector_protocol/code_generator.py
+++ b/tools/inspector_protocol/code_generator.py
@@ -103,6 +103,17 @@ def init_defaults(config_tuple, path, defaults):
             ".lib": False,
             ".lib.export_macro": "",
             ".lib.export_header": False,
+            # The encoding lib consists of encoding/encoding.h and
+            # encoding/encoding.cc in its subdirectory, which binaries
+            # may link / depend on, instead of relying on the
+            # JINJA2 templates lib/encoding_{h,cc}.template.
+            # In that case, |header| identifies the include file
+            # and |namespace| is the namespace it's using. Usually
+            # inspector_protocol_encoding but for v8's copy it's
+            # v8_inspector_protocol_encoding.
+            # TODO(johannes): Migrate away from lib/encoding_{h,cc}.template
+            #                 in favor of this.
+            ".encoding_lib": { "header": "", "namespace": []},
         }
         for key_value in config_values:
             parts = key_value.split("=")
diff --git a/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/Values_cpp.template b/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/Values_cpp.template
index 17c69255851ee7..8b4dfc91e3b9c9 100644
--- a/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/Values_cpp.template
+++ b/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/Values_cpp.template
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 
 //#include "Values.h"
 
+{% if config.encoding_lib.header %}
+#include "{{config.encoding_lib.header}}"
+{% endif %}
+
 {% for namespace in config.protocol.namespace %}
 namespace {{namespace}} {
 {% endfor %}
@@ -64,6 +68,30 @@ void escapeStringForJSONInternal(const Char* str, unsigned len,
 // to this constant.
 static constexpr int kStackLimitValues = 1000;
 
+{% if config.encoding_lib.namespace %}
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace)}}::Error;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace)}}::Status;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace)}}::span;
+namespace cbor {
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::CBORTokenTag;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::CBORTokenizer;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeBinary;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeDouble;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeFalse;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeFromLatin1;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeFromUTF16;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeIndefiniteLengthArrayStart;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeIndefiniteLengthMapStart;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeInt32;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeNull;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeStop;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeString8;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EncodeTrue;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::EnvelopeEncoder;
+using {{"::".join(config.encoding_lib.namespace + ['cbor'])}}::InitialByteForEnvelope;
+}  // namespace cbor
+{% endif %}
+
 // Below are three parsing routines for CBOR, which cover enough
 // to roundtrip JSON messages.
 std::unique_ptr<DictionaryValue> parseMap(int32_t stack_depth, cbor::CBORTokenizer* tokenizer);
diff --git a/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_cpp.template b/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_cpp.template
index 70bf9091a7dd6a..e950acd6a6f34d 100644
--- a/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_cpp.template
+++ b/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_cpp.template
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 // found in the LICENSE file.
 
+{% if config.encoding_lib.header == "" %}
 
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <cassert>
@@ -2196,3 +2197,5 @@ Status ConvertJSONToCBOR(const Platform& platform,
 {% for namespace in config.protocol.namespace %}
 } // namespace {{namespace}}
 {% endfor %}
+
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_h.template b/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_h.template
index 406c4b87ff8aa5..2c6cfc10d594c2 100644
--- a/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_h.template
+++ b/tools/inspector_protocol/lib/encoding_h.template
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 // found in the LICENSE file.
 
+{% if config.encoding_lib.header == "" %}
 #ifndef {{"_".join(config.protocol.namespace)}}_encoding_h
 #define {{"_".join(config.protocol.namespace)}}_encoding_h
 
@@ -518,3 +519,4 @@ Status ConvertJSONToCBOR(const Platform& platform,
 } // namespace {{namespace}}
 {% endfor %}
 #endif // !defined({{"_".join(config.protocol.namespace)}}_encoding_h)
+{% endif %}