diff --git a/python/setup.py b/python/setup.py
index e7cf14737..a0b5376ca 100644
--- a/python/setup.py
+++ b/python/setup.py
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ requires = [
     "six >= 1.0.0",
     "flatbuffers",
     "faulthandler;python_version<'3.3'",
-    "protobuf",
+    "protobuf >= 3.8.0",
 ]
 
 setup(