diff --git a/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainer.java b/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainer.java
index 51dce6f076..823f6f61f7 100644
--- a/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainer.java
+++ b/testcontainers-dapr/src/main/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainer.java
@@ -48,7 +48,6 @@ public class DaprContainer extends GenericContainer<DaprContainer> {
   private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DaprContainer.class);
   private static final int DAPRD_DEFAULT_HTTP_PORT = 3500;
   private static final int DAPRD_DEFAULT_GRPC_PORT = 50001;
-  private static final DaprProtocol DAPR_PROTOCOL = DaprProtocol.HTTP;
   private static final DockerImageName DEFAULT_IMAGE_NAME =
           DockerImageName.parse(DAPR_RUNTIME_IMAGE_TAG);
   private static final Yaml YAML_MAPPER = YamlMapperFactory.create();
@@ -76,6 +75,7 @@ public class DaprContainer extends GenericContainer<DaprContainer> {
   private DaprSchedulerContainer schedulerContainer;
   private String appName;
   private Integer appPort;
+  private DaprProtocol appProtocol = DaprProtocol.HTTP; // default from docs
   private String appHealthCheckPath;
   private Integer appHealthCheckProbeInterval = 5; //default from docs
   private Integer appHealthCheckProbeTimeout = 500; //default from docs
@@ -126,6 +126,11 @@ public DaprContainer withAppPort(Integer port) {
     return this;
   }
 
+  public DaprContainer withAppProtocol(DaprProtocol protocol) {
+    this.appProtocol = protocol;
+    return this;
+  }
+
   public DaprContainer withAppChannelAddress(String appChannelAddress) {
     this.appChannelAddress = appChannelAddress;
     return this;
@@ -308,8 +313,6 @@ protected void configure() {
     cmds.add("--app-id");
     cmds.add(appName);
     cmds.add("--dapr-listen-addresses=0.0.0.0");
-    cmds.add("--app-protocol");
-    cmds.add(DAPR_PROTOCOL.getName());
     cmds.add("--placement-host-address");
     cmds.add(placementService + ":50005");
     cmds.add("--scheduler-host-address");
@@ -325,6 +328,11 @@ protected void configure() {
       cmds.add(Integer.toString(appPort));
     }
 
+    if (appProtocol != null) {
+      cmds.add("--app-protocol");
+      cmds.add(appProtocol.getName());
+    }
+
     if (appHealthCheckPath != null && !appHealthCheckPath.isEmpty()) {
       cmds.add("--enable-app-health-check");
       cmds.add("--app-health-check-path");
@@ -413,6 +421,10 @@ public Integer getAppPort() {
     return appPort;
   }
 
+  public DaprProtocol getAppProtocol() {
+    return appProtocol;
+  }
+
   public String getAppHealthCheckPath() {
     return appHealthCheckPath;
   }
diff --git a/testcontainers-dapr/src/test/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerTest.java b/testcontainers-dapr/src/test/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerTest.java
index c930e98511..8281aae80e 100644
--- a/testcontainers-dapr/src/test/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerTest.java
+++ b/testcontainers-dapr/src/test/java/io/dapr/testcontainers/DaprContainerTest.java
@@ -78,4 +78,22 @@ public void appHealthParametersDefaultsTest(){
     assertEquals(3, dapr2.getAppHealthCheckThreshold());
 
   }
+
+  @Test
+  public void appProtocolDefaultsTest() {
+    try (DaprContainer daprContainer = new DaprContainer(DAPR_RUNTIME_IMAGE_TAG)
+            .withAppName("dapr-app")) {
+      daprContainer.configure();
+      assertEquals(DaprProtocol.HTTP, daprContainer.getAppProtocol());
+    }
+
+    DaprProtocol protocol = DaprProtocol.GRPC;
+    try (DaprContainer daprContainer = new DaprContainer(DAPR_RUNTIME_IMAGE_TAG)
+            .withAppName("dapr-app4")
+            .withAppProtocol(protocol)) {
+      daprContainer.configure();
+      assertEquals(protocol, daprContainer.getAppProtocol());
+    }
+
+  }
 }