diff --git a/connector/kinesis-asl-assembly/pom.xml b/connector/kinesis-asl-assembly/pom.xml
index b696ecbdcb..9d4ad71da3 100644
--- a/connector/kinesis-asl-assembly/pom.xml
+++ b/connector/kinesis-asl-assembly/pom.xml
@@ -62,11 +62,11 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
       <artifactId>protobuf-java</artifactId>
-      <version>2.6.1</version>
+      <version>3.16.3</version>
       <!-- 
          We are being explicit about version here and overriding the 
          spark default of 2.5.0 because KCL appears to have introduced 
-         a dependency on protobuf 2.6.1 somewhere between KCL 1.4.0 and 1.6.1.
+         a dependency on protobuf 3.16.3 somewhere between KCL 1.4.0 and 1.6.1.
        -->
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 93acf74d2c..da290f028b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -119,9 +119,9 @@
     <!-- make sure to update IsolatedClientLoader whenever this version is changed -->
     <hadoop.version>3.3.4</hadoop.version>
     <!-- Protobuf version for building with Hadoop/Yarn dependencies -->
-    <protobuf.hadoopDependency.version>2.5.0</protobuf.hadoopDependency.version>
+    <protobuf.hadoopDependency.version>3.16.3</protobuf.hadoopDependency.version>
     <!-- Actual Protobuf version in Spark modules like Spark Connect, protobuf connector, etc. -->
-    <protobuf.version>3.21.9</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>3.16.3</protobuf.version>
     <yarn.version>${hadoop.version}</yarn.version>
     <zookeeper.version>3.6.3</zookeeper.version>
     <curator.version>2.13.0</curator.version>