diff --git a/sys-apps/coolercontrold/coolercontrold-3.1.1.ebuild b/sys-apps/coolercontrold/coolercontrold-3.1.1.ebuild
index bae6b1bf33..7a66d39290 100644
--- a/sys-apps/coolercontrold/coolercontrold-3.1.1.ebuild
+++ b/sys-apps/coolercontrold/coolercontrold-3.1.1.ebuild
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ RDEPEND="
 	)
 "
 DEPEND="${RDEPEND}"
+BDEPEND="dev-libs/protobuf[protoc(+)]"
 
 QA_FLAGS_IGNORED=".*"