diff --git a/metadata/pom.xml b/metadata/pom.xml
index 2c8a6ceb4..594c22257 100644
--- a/metadata/pom.xml
+++ b/metadata/pom.xml
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
       <artifactId>protobuf-java</artifactId>
-      <version>3.12.2</version>
+      <version>3.16.1</version>
     </dependency>
 
     <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/com.google.auto.value/auto-value -->