diff --git a/java/flight/flight-core/pom.xml b/java/flight/flight-core/pom.xml
index 71095aa4a54..c811eb0a82a 100644
--- a/java/flight/flight-core/pom.xml
+++ b/java/flight/flight-core/pom.xml
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 
   <properties>
     <dep.grpc.version>1.41.0</dep.grpc.version>
-    <dep.protobuf.version>3.7.1</dep.protobuf.version>
+    <dep.protobuf.version>3.16.3</dep.protobuf.version>
     <forkCount>1</forkCount>
   </properties>