diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index caabf7e2..fb23dd10 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
   
     <junit-version>3.8.2</junit-version>
-    <protobuf-version>2.3.0</protobuf-version>
+    <protobuf-version>3.16.3</protobuf-version>
     <jackson-version>1.9.13</jackson-version>
     <woodstox-version>4.1.3</woodstox-version>
     <velocity-version>1.6.3</velocity-version>