diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/interface-admin/src/main/proto/ScmAdminProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdds/interface-admin/src/main/proto/ScmAdminProtocol.proto
index d67dce9dda58..a7a1be35534d 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/interface-admin/src/main/proto/ScmAdminProtocol.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/interface-admin/src/main/proto/ScmAdminProtocol.proto
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  * Please see http://wiki.apache.org/hadoop/Compatibility
  * for what changes are allowed for a *unstable* .proto interface.
  */
-
+syntax = "proto2";
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto";
 option java_outer_classname = "StorageContainerLocationProtocolProtos";
 option java_generic_services = true;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/interface-client/src/main/proto/hdds.proto b/hadoop-hdds/interface-client/src/main/proto/hdds.proto
index c441db61fa61..6956d792fd57 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/interface-client/src/main/proto/hdds.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/interface-client/src/main/proto/hdds.proto
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  * Please see http://wiki.apache.org/hadoop/Compatibility
  * for what changes are allowed for an *unstable* .proto interface.
  */
-
+syntax = "proto2";
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto";
 option java_outer_classname = "HddsProtos";
 option java_generic_services = true;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/SCMRatisProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/SCMRatisProtocol.proto
index b9d3941ae024..8066c8b6070b 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/SCMRatisProtocol.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/SCMRatisProtocol.proto
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  * limitations under the License.
  */
-
+syntax = "proto2";
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto";
 option java_outer_classname = "SCMRatisProtocol";
 option java_generate_equals_and_hash = true;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerDatanodeHeartbeatProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerDatanodeHeartbeatProtocol.proto
index 8fc017f1babc..7f2e6dda6522 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerDatanodeHeartbeatProtocol.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerDatanodeHeartbeatProtocol.proto
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  * Please see http://wiki.apache.org/hadoop/Compatibility
  * for what changes are allowed for a *unstable* .proto interface.
  */
+syntax = "proto2";
 
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto";
 
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerProtocol.proto
index 6d4759cfaae5..facdf58a8923 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerProtocol.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerProtocol.proto
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
  * Please see http://wiki.apache.org/hadoop/Compatibility
  * for what changes are allowed for a *unstable* .proto interface.
  */
-
+syntax = "proto2";
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto";
 option java_outer_classname = "ScmBlockLocationProtocolProtos";
 option java_generic_services = true;
diff --git a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerSecurityProtocol.proto b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerSecurityProtocol.proto
index d91a9865c356..c68207176308 100644
--- a/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerSecurityProtocol.proto
+++ b/hadoop-hdds/interface-server/src/main/proto/ScmServerSecurityProtocol.proto
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
  * Please see http://wiki.apache.org/hadoop/Compatibility
  * for what changes are allowed for a *unstable* .proto interface.
  */
+syntax = "proto2";
 
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.hdds.protocol.proto";
 
diff --git a/hadoop-ozone/interface-client/src/main/proto/Security.proto b/hadoop-ozone/interface-client/src/main/proto/Security.proto
index 2adf58ef4664..65cbf48ba325 100644
--- a/hadoop-ozone/interface-client/src/main/proto/Security.proto
+++ b/hadoop-ozone/interface-client/src/main/proto/Security.proto
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
  */
 
 //Use ozone specific security proto until start using hadoop-thirdparty shaded protobuf everywhere.
+syntax = "proto2";
 option java_package = "org.apache.hadoop.ozone.security.proto";
 option java_outer_classname = "SecurityProtos";
 option java_generic_services = true;