diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 5d82e529..ef8098be 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
 [submodule "packages/grpc-native-core/deps/grpc"]
 	path = packages/grpc-native-core/deps/grpc
 	url = https://github.com/grpc/grpc.git
+[submodule "packages/grpc-tools/deps/protobuf"]
+	path = packages/grpc-tools/deps/protobuf
+	url = https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf
diff --git a/packages/grpc-tools/deps/protobuf b/packages/grpc-tools/deps/protobuf
new file mode 160000
index 00000000..a6e1cc7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/grpc-tools/deps/protobuf
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit a6e1cc7e328c45a0cb9856c530c8f6cd23314163