diff --git a/fabric-shim/lib/chaincode.js b/fabric-shim/lib/chaincode.js
index 50cbaa68..9fcc06ec 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/lib/chaincode.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/lib/chaincode.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 /* eslint-disable no-useless-escape */
 'use strict';
 
-const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('./protoloader');
 const path = require('path');
 const util = require('util');
 const X509 = require('@ampretia/x509');
@@ -26,17 +26,17 @@ const StartCommand = require('./cmds/startCommand.js');
 
 const yargs = require('yargs');
 
-const _chaincodeProto = grpc.load({
+const _chaincodeProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const _serviceProto = grpc.load({
+const _serviceProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode_shim.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const _responseProto = grpc.load({
+const _responseProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/proposal_response.proto'
 }).protos;
diff --git a/fabric-shim/lib/handler.js b/fabric-shim/lib/handler.js
index 568e1d5b..54449c7a 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/lib/handler.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/lib/handler.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 process.env.GRPC_SSL_CIPHER_SUITES = 'ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES128-SHA256:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-SHA384:ECDHE-ECDSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384';
 
 const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('./protoloader');
 const {URL} = require('url');
 const path = require('path');
 const util = require('util');
@@ -20,17 +21,17 @@ const Stub = require('./stub.js');
 
 const utils = require('./utils/utils');
 
-const _serviceProto = grpc.load({
+const _serviceProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode_shim.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const _chaincodeProto = grpc.load({
+const _chaincodeProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const _responseProto = grpc.load({
+const _responseProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/proposal_response.proto'
 }).protos;
diff --git a/fabric-shim/lib/iterators.js b/fabric-shim/lib/iterators.js
index 615fd11e..bfea8f73 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/lib/iterators.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/lib/iterators.js
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 'use strict';
-const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('./protoloader');
 const path = require('path');
 const EventEmitter = require('events');
 
-const _queryresultProto = grpc.load({
+const _queryresultProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'ledger/queryresult/kv_query_result.proto'
 }).queryresult;
diff --git a/fabric-shim/lib/protoloader.js b/fabric-shim/lib/protoloader.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cde767e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fabric-shim/lib/protoloader.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2018 IBM All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+ */
+
+'use strict';
+
+const grpc = require('grpc');
+const protobuf = require('protobufjs');
+
+/**
+ * @ignore
+ * A class for easily loading service descriptors and client stub definitions from
+ * .proto files at runtime.
+ */
+class ProtoLoader {
+
+    /**
+     * Load service descriptors and client stub definitions from a .proto file.
+     * @param {string} filename The filename of the .proto file.
+     * @param {Object} [options]  The options used to load the .proto file.
+     * @returns {*} The loaded service descriptors and client stub definitions.
+     */
+    static load (filename) {
+        const builder = protobuf.loadProtoFile(filename);
+        return grpc.loadObject(builder, {protobufjsVersion: 5});
+    }
+
+}
+
+module.exports = ProtoLoader;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fabric-shim/lib/stub.js b/fabric-shim/lib/stub.js
index f376338c..b3888856 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/lib/stub.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/lib/stub.js
@@ -7,32 +7,32 @@
 // TODO: Need to add parameter validation to all calls.
 'use strict';
 
-const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('./protoloader');
 const path = require('path');
 const util = require('util');
 const crypto = require('crypto');
 
-const _commonProto = grpc.load({
+const _commonProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'common/common.proto'
 }).common;
 
-const _proposalProto = grpc.load({
+const _proposalProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/proposal.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const _eventProto = grpc.load({
+const _eventProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode_event.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const _idProto = grpc.load({
+const _idProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'msp/identities.proto'
 }).msp;
 
-const _serviceProto = grpc.load({
+const _serviceProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, './protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode_shim.proto'
 }).protos;
diff --git a/fabric-shim/lib/utils/statebased.js b/fabric-shim/lib/utils/statebased.js
index 4100482e..cf4a7a9d 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/lib/utils/statebased.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/lib/utils/statebased.js
@@ -4,15 +4,15 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 */
 
-const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('../protoloader');
 const path = require('path');
 
-const _policiesProto = grpc.load({
+const _policiesProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, '../protos'),
     file: 'common/policies.proto'
 }).common;
 
-const _principalProto = grpc.load({
+const _principalProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, '../protos'),
     file: 'msp/msp_principal.proto'
 }).common;
diff --git a/fabric-shim/package.json b/fabric-shim/package.json
index 47fd7d3d..b2d8bdf1 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/package.json
+++ b/fabric-shim/package.json
@@ -42,7 +42,8 @@
     "reflect-metadata": "^0.1.12",
     "winston": "^2.4.1",
     "yargs": "^10.0.2",
-    "yargs-parser": "^11.0.0"
+    "yargs-parser": "^11.0.0",
+    "protobufjs": "5.0.3"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "mocha": "5.2.0",
diff --git a/fabric-shim/test/unit/chaincode.js b/fabric-shim/test/unit/chaincode.js
index 2c379493..6e2b0a98 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/test/unit/chaincode.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/test/unit/chaincode.js
@@ -10,16 +10,16 @@ const sinon = require('sinon');
 const chai = require('chai');
 const expect = chai.expect;
 const rewire = require('rewire');
-const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('../../lib/protoloader');
 const path = require('path');
 
-const Logger = require('../../../fabric-shim/lib/logger');
+const Logger = require('../../lib/logger');
 
-const chaincodePath = '../../../fabric-shim/lib/chaincode.js';
+const chaincodePath = '../../lib/chaincode.js';
 const StartCommand = require('../../lib/cmds/startCommand.js');
 
-const _serviceProto = grpc.load({
-    root: path.join(__dirname, '../../../fabric-shim/lib/protos'),
+const _serviceProto = ProtoLoader.load({
+    root: path.join(__dirname, '../../lib/protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode_shim.proto'
 }).protos;
 
diff --git a/fabric-shim/test/unit/stub.js b/fabric-shim/test/unit/stub.js
index 51ec7bbc..c3af230a 100644
--- a/fabric-shim/test/unit/stub.js
+++ b/fabric-shim/test/unit/stub.js
@@ -11,15 +11,15 @@ const chai = require('chai');
 chai.use(require('chai-as-promised'));
 const expect = chai.expect;
 const rewire = require('rewire');
-const grpc = require('grpc');
+const ProtoLoader = require('../../lib/protoloader');
 const path = require('path');
 
-const _serviceProto = grpc.load({
+const _serviceProto = ProtoLoader.load({
     root: path.join(__dirname, '../../lib/protos'),
     file: 'peer/chaincode_shim.proto'
 }).protos;
 
-const Stub = rewire('../../../fabric-shim/lib/stub.js');
+const Stub = rewire('../../lib/stub.js');
 
 describe('Stub', () => {
     describe('validateCompositeKeyAttribute', () => {