diff --git a/examples/serdes-with-references/pom.xml b/examples/serdes-with-references/pom.xml
index ebf84387b2..229c9044d3 100644
--- a/examples/serdes-with-references/pom.xml
+++ b/examples/serdes-with-references/pom.xml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
   <properties>
     <projectRoot>${project.basedir}/../..</projectRoot>
-    <protobuf.version>3.25.5</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>4.28.2</protobuf.version>
     <proto-plugin.version>0.6.1</proto-plugin.version>
     <protobuf.googleapi.types.version>2.44.0</protobuf.googleapi.types.version>
   </properties>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index d9a1209dec..cef991e8c0 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@
     <okio.version>3.9.1</okio.version>
     <okio-fake-file-system.version>3.9.0</okio-fake-file-system.version>
     <icu4j.version>75.1</icu4j.version>
-    <protobuf.version>3.25.5</protobuf.version>
+    <protobuf.version>4.28.2</protobuf.version>
     <xmlsec.version>4.0.2</xmlsec.version>
     <protobuf.googleapi.types.version>2.44.0</protobuf.googleapi.types.version>
     <wsdl4j.version>1.6.3</wsdl4j.version>