diff --git a/formats/protobuf/pom.xml b/formats/protobuf/pom.xml
index 289febe8..538bf828 100644
--- a/formats/protobuf/pom.xml
+++ b/formats/protobuf/pom.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <properties>
-        <protobuf.version>3.21.10</protobuf.version>
+        <protobuf.version>4.26.1</protobuf.version>
         <module-name>io.cloudevents.formats.protobuf</module-name>
     </properties>