diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 9be7cad84..7a62f7165 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ lazy val tests = project
     name := "akka-stream-kafka-tests",
     libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
         "com.typesafe.akka" %% "akka-discovery" % akkaVersion,
-        "com.google.protobuf" % "protobuf-java" % "3.25.5", // use the same, or later, version as in scalapb
+        "com.google.protobuf" % "protobuf-java" % "4.28.3", // use the same, or later, version as in scalapb
         "io.confluent" % "kafka-avro-serializer" % confluentAvroSerializerVersion % Test excludeAll (confluentLibsExclusionRules: _*),
         // See https://github.com/sbt/sbt/issues/3618#issuecomment-448951808
         "javax.ws.rs" % "javax.ws.rs-api" % "2.1.1" artifacts Artifact("javax.ws.rs-api", "jar", "jar"),