diff --git a/open-vm-tools.changes b/open-vm-tools.changes
index 3b295f7..0bd60fc 100644
--- a/open-vm-tools.changes
+++ b/open-vm-tools.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Wed Jun 14 09:32:53 UTC 2023 - Dominique Leuenberger <dimstar@opensuse.org>
+
+- pin to protobuf < 22 until grpc and open-vm-tools support
+  protobuf 22.
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Tue May  2 20:40:18 UTC 2023 - Jan Engelhardt <jengelh@inai.de>
 
diff --git a/open-vm-tools.spec b/open-vm-tools.spec
index 75ef8db..4f0751f 100644
--- a/open-vm-tools.spec
+++ b/open-vm-tools.spec
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ BuildRequires:  update-desktop-files
 BuildRequires:  containerd-devel
 BuildRequires:  grpc-devel
 BuildRequires:  libcurl-devel
-BuildRequires:  protobuf-devel
+BuildRequires:  (pkgconfig(protobuf) >= 3.8.0 with pkgconfig(protobuf) < 22)
 %define         arg_containerinfo --enable-containerinfo=yes
 %else
 %define         arg_containerinfo --enable-containerinfo=no