diff --git a/hadoop-project/pom.xml b/hadoop-project/pom.xml
index d8bfaa22c8e7..b192374e73a0 100644
--- a/hadoop-project/pom.xml
+++ b/hadoop-project/pom.xml
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
 
     <!-- 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>
   </properties>