diff --git a/hadoop-project/pom.xml b/hadoop-project/pom.xml
index 3ae86d71a31..542b5908f61 100644
--- a/hadoop-project/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-project/pom.xml
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@
 
     <!-- ProtocolBuffer version, used to verify the protoc version and -->
     <!-- define the protobuf JAR version                               -->
-    <protobuf.version>2.5.0</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>3.16.1</protobuf.version>
     <protoc.path>${env.HADOOP_PROTOC_PATH}</protoc.path>
 
     <zookeeper.version>3.4.13</zookeeper.version>