diff --git a/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml b/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
index 00aa1e2bc0f..1305734a63c 100644
--- a/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
+++ b/conda/environments/all_cuda-118_arch-x86_64.yaml
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ dependencies:
 - pandoc<=2.0.0
 - pip
 - pre-commit
-- protobuf=4.21
+- protobuf>=4.21.6,<4.22
 - ptxcompiler
 - pyarrow=10
 - pydata-sphinx-theme
diff --git a/conda/recipes/cudf/meta.yaml b/conda/recipes/cudf/meta.yaml
index 27073eb323b..1ce401abb81 100644
--- a/conda/recipes/cudf/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda/recipes/cudf/meta.yaml
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ requirements:
     - ninja
     - sysroot_{{ target_platform }} {{ sysroot_version }}
   host:
-    - protobuf =4.21
+    - protobuf >=4.21.6,<4.22
     - python
     - cython >=0.29,<0.30
     - scikit-build >=0.13.1
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ requirements:
     - rmm ={{ minor_version }}
     - cudatoolkit ={{ cuda_version }}
   run:
-    - protobuf =4.21
+    - protobuf >=4.21.6,<4.22
     - python
     - typing_extensions
     - pandas >=1.0,<1.6.0dev0
diff --git a/dependencies.yaml b/dependencies.yaml
index 2c359d58378..1d065db4694 100644
--- a/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/dependencies.yaml
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ dependencies:
           - scikit-build>=0.13.1
       - output_types: conda
         packages:
-          - protobuf=4.21
+          - protobuf>=4.21.6,<4.22
   cudatoolkit:
     specific:
       - output_types: conda
diff --git a/python/cudf/pyproject.toml b/python/cudf/pyproject.toml
index 0dc719a0846..ca14ccfc63e 100644
--- a/python/cudf/pyproject.toml
+++ b/python/cudf/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "nvtx>=0.2.1",
     "packaging",
     "pandas>=1.0,<1.6.0dev0",
-    "protobuf==4.21",
+    "protobuf>=4.21.6,<4.22",
     "typing_extensions",
     # Allow floating minor versions for Arrow.
     "pyarrow==10",