diff --git a/mlflow/java/pom.xml b/mlflow/java/pom.xml
index 659c569c..08d557c6 100644
--- a/mlflow/java/pom.xml
+++ b/mlflow/java/pom.xml
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
     <scala.version>2.11.12</scala.version>
     <httpclient.version>4.5.6</httpclient.version>
     <git-commit.version>2.2.4</git-commit.version>
-    <protobuf.version>3.6.0</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>3.16.1</protobuf.version>
     <scalapb.version>0.6.7</scalapb.version>
     <testng.version>6.14.3</testng.version>
     <slf4j.version>1.7.25</slf4j.version>