diff --git a/cmake/external_protobuf.cmake b/cmake/external_protobuf.cmake
index 47977b3..1a66e1c 100644
--- a/cmake/external_protobuf.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external_protobuf.cmake
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ include(ExternalProject)

 # This version of PROTOBUF is required by Microsoft ONNX Runtime.
 set(NGRAPH_PROTOBUF_GIT_REPO_URL "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf")
-set(NGRAPH_PROTOBUF_GIT_TAG "v3.5.2")
+set(NGRAPH_PROTOBUF_GIT_TAG "v3.6.1")

 ExternalProject_Add(
     ext_protobuf