diff --git a/src/control/SConscript b/src/control/SConscript
index e8865f368bb..2415e999bd9 100644
--- a/src/control/SConscript
+++ b/src/control/SConscript
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ def scons():
 
     # Sets CGO_LDFLAGS for rpath options
     denv.d_add_rpaths("..", True, True)
+    denv.require('protobufc')
     denv.AppendENVPath("CGO_CFLAGS", denv.subst("$_CPPINCFLAGS"), sep=" ")
     if prereqs.client_requested():
         install_go_bin(denv, "daos_agent")