diff --git a/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/install-without-bom/pom.xml b/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/install-without-bom/pom.xml
index b02a3fd7ab67..54bdbff2fbff 100644
--- a/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/install-without-bom/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/install-without-bom/pom.xml
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
       <artifactId>protobuf-java-util</artifactId>
-      <version>3.20.1</version>
+      <version>3.21.0</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>junit</groupId>
diff --git a/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snapshot/pom.xml b/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snapshot/pom.xml
index 6dfd3e5e560b..8fe6e611b310 100644
--- a/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snapshot/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snapshot/pom.xml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
       <artifactId>protobuf-java-util</artifactId>
-      <version>3.20.1</version>
+      <version>3.21.0</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>junit</groupId>
diff --git a/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snippets/pom.xml b/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snippets/pom.xml
index 00edfc245a7d..19f050a6e1d5 100644
--- a/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snippets/pom.xml
+++ b/java-bigqueryconnection/samples/snippets/pom.xml
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
       <artifactId>protobuf-java-util</artifactId>
-      <version>3.20.1</version>
+      <version>3.21.0</version>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>junit</groupId>