diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 5426b85a..8f9a0062 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ COPY . .
 
 # Install dependencies needed for building RocksDB.
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -yq \
-    git clang libssl-dev pkg-config
+    git clang libssl-dev pkg-config protobuf-compiler
 
 RUN cargo build --release -p nomos-node
 
diff --git a/ci/Dockerfile b/ci/Dockerfile
index d72b226a..cf4b2bf7 100644
--- a/ci/Dockerfile
+++ b/ci/Dockerfile
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ RUN echo 'deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-backports main' \
 # Dependecies for publishing documentation.
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -yq \
     libssl-dev openssh-client git python3-pip clang \
-    pkg-config
+    pkg-config protobuf-compiler
 
 RUN pip install ghp-import
 RUN rustup component add rustfmt clippy
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index e749aeea..09123487 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ pkgs.mkShell {
     clang_14
     llvmPackages_14.libclang
     openssl.dev
+    protobuf
   ];
   shellHook = ''
     export LIBCLANG_PATH="${pkgs.llvmPackages_14.libclang.lib}/lib";
diff --git a/testnet/Dockerfile b/testnet/Dockerfile
index cbb9ac17..8a19400b 100644
--- a/testnet/Dockerfile
+++ b/testnet/Dockerfile
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ COPY . .
 
 # Install dependencies needed for building RocksDB and etcd.
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -yq \
-    git clang etcd-client libssl-dev pkg-config
+    git clang etcd-client libssl-dev pkg-config protobuf-compiler
 
 RUN cargo build --release --all --features metrics