diff --git a/statefun-sdk-python/build-distribution.sh b/statefun-sdk-python/build-distribution.sh
index 3f74e35b3..f26e1593d 100755
--- a/statefun-sdk-python/build-distribution.sh
+++ b/statefun-sdk-python/build-distribution.sh
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ CURR_DIR=`pwd`
 BASE_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" >/dev/null && pwd )"
 SDK_PROTOS_DIR="${BASE_DIR}/../statefun-sdk-protos/src/main/protobuf"
 IN_DOCKER_BUILD_COMMAND="
-apk add protobuf-dev && \
+apk add wget unzip && wget https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v25.8/protoc-25.8-linux-x86_64.zip && \
+unzip protoc-25.8-linux-x86_64.zip && ln -s /app/bin/protoc /usr/bin/protoc && \
 protoc *proto --python_out=statefun/ && \
 python3 setup.py sdist bdist_wheel
 "
diff --git a/statefun-sdk-python/setup.py b/statefun-sdk-python/setup.py
index 146d3ed35..d470a225b 100644
--- a/statefun-sdk-python/setup.py
+++ b/statefun-sdk-python/setup.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name='apache-flink-statefun',
-    version='3.4-SNAPSHOT',
+    version='3.5',
     packages=["statefun"],
     url='https://github.com/apache/flink-statefun',
     license='https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0',
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     description='Python SDK for Apache Flink Stateful functions',
     long_description=long_description,
     long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
-    install_requires=['protobuf>=3.11.3,<4.0.0'],
+    install_requires=['protobuf>=3.20.3,<5.0.0'],
     tests_require=['pytest'],
     python_requires='>=3.8',
     classifiers=[