diff --git a/lib/pyproject.toml b/lib/pyproject.toml
index 63d9b5f47..ea9f88dcc 100644
--- a/lib/pyproject.toml
+++ b/lib/pyproject.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ authors = [
 license = {text = "LGPLv2.1"}
 dynamic = ["version"]
 requires-python = ">=3.6"
+dependencies = ["protobuf"]
 
 [tool.setuptools]
 packages = ["pycriu", "pycriu.images"]
diff --git a/lib/setup.cfg b/lib/setup.cfg
index 902fed9ee..28c9e49c3 100644
--- a/lib/setup.cfg
+++ b/lib/setup.cfg
@@ -14,3 +14,5 @@ version = attr: pycriu.__version__
 [options]
 packages = find:
 python_requires = >=3.6
+install_requires =
+    protobuf