diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 2e3eaf967f..632e64e60d 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -297,11 +297,11 @@ lazy val protobufV3 = akkaModule("akka-protobuf-v3")
   .enablePlugins(ScaladocNoVerificationOfDiagrams)
   .disablePlugins(MimaPlugin)
   .settings(
-    libraryDependencies += Dependencies.Compile.protobufRuntime,
+    libraryDependencies += Dependencies.Compile.Provided.protobufRuntime,
     assemblyShadeRules in assembly := Seq(
         ShadeRule
           .rename("com.google.protobuf.**" -> "akka.protobufv3.internal.@1")
-          .inLibrary(Dependencies.Compile.protobufRuntime)),
+          .inLibrary(Dependencies.Compile.Provided.protobufRuntime)),
     assemblyOption in assembly := (assemblyOption in assembly).value.copy(includeScala = false, includeBin = false),
     autoScalaLibrary := false, // do not include scala dependency in pom
     exportJars := true, // in dependent projects, use assembled and shaded jar
diff --git a/project/Dependencies.scala b/project/Dependencies.scala
index cc243768c6..7efec97842 100644
--- a/project/Dependencies.scala
+++ b/project/Dependencies.scala
@@ -92,8 +92,6 @@ object Dependencies {
     val jacksonParameterNames = "com.fasterxml.jackson.module" % "jackson-module-parameter-names" % jacksonVersion // ApacheV2
     val jacksonCbor = "com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat" % "jackson-dataformat-cbor" % jacksonVersion // ApacheV2
 
-    val protobufRuntime = "com.google.protobuf" % "protobuf-java" % protobufJavaVersion
-
     val logback = "ch.qos.logback" % "logback-classic" % logbackVersion // EPL 1.0
 
     object Docs {
@@ -162,6 +160,8 @@ object Dependencies {
 
       val logback = Compile.logback % "optional;provided;test" // EPL 1.0
 
+      val protobufRuntime = "com.google.protobuf" % "protobuf-java" % protobufJavaVersion % "optional;provided"
+
     }
 
   }