diff --git a/connector/connect/pom.xml b/connector/connect/pom.xml
index f750c525a9dc6..7e44cae63bf84 100644
--- a/connector/connect/pom.xml
+++ b/connector/connect/pom.xml
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
   <url>https://spark.apache.org/</url>
   <properties>
     <sbt.project.name>connect</sbt.project.name>
-    <protobuf.version>3.21.1</protobuf.version>
     <guava.version>31.0.1-jre</guava.version>
     <guava.failureaccess.version>1.0.1</guava.failureaccess.version>
     <io.grpc.version>1.47.0</io.grpc.version>
diff --git a/connector/protobuf/pom.xml b/connector/protobuf/pom.xml
index 9f884b07a12ad..46077d4554f22 100644
--- a/connector/protobuf/pom.xml
+++ b/connector/protobuf/pom.xml
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
   <artifactId>spark-protobuf_2.12</artifactId>
   <properties>
     <sbt.project.name>protobuf</sbt.project.name>
-    <protobuf.version>3.21.9</protobuf.version>
   </properties>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
   <name>Spark Protobuf</name>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e07b01ea95577..b83a0245b2cce 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -118,7 +118,10 @@
     <log4j.version>2.19.0</log4j.version>
     <!-- make sure to update IsolatedClientLoader whenever this version is changed -->
     <hadoop.version>3.3.4</hadoop.version>
-    <protobuf.version>2.5.0</protobuf.version>
+    <!-- Protobuf version for building with Hadoop/Yarn dependencies -->
+    <protobuf.hadoopDependency.version>2.5.0</protobuf.hadoopDependency.version>
+    <!-- Actual Protobuf version in Spark modules like Spark Connect, protobuf connector, etc. -->
+    <protobuf.version>3.21.9</protobuf.version>
     <yarn.version>${hadoop.version}</yarn.version>
     <zookeeper.version>3.6.3</zookeeper.version>
     <curator.version>2.13.0</curator.version>
@@ -820,7 +823,7 @@
       <dependency>
         <groupId>com.google.protobuf</groupId>
         <artifactId>protobuf-java</artifactId>
-        <version>${protobuf.version}</version>
+        <version>${protobuf.hadoopDependency.version}</version>
         <scope>${hadoop.deps.scope}</scope>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>