diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 5247803..8b81690 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -29,12 +29,31 @@ version = "1.10.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "d71b6127be86fdcfddb610f7182ac57211d4b18a3e9c82eb2d17662f2227ad6a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cc"
+version = "1.2.36"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5252b3d2648e5eedbc1a6f501e3c795e07025c1e93bbf8bbdd6eef7f447a6d54"
+dependencies = [
+ "find-msvc-tools",
+ "shlex",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cfg-if"
 version = "1.0.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2fd1289c04a9ea8cb22300a459a72a385d7c73d3259e2ed7dcb2af674838cfa9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cmake"
+version = "0.1.54"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e7caa3f9de89ddbe2c607f4101924c5abec803763ae9534e4f4d7d8f84aa81f0"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "either"
 version = "1.15.0"
@@ -63,6 +82,12 @@ version = "2.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "37909eebbb50d72f9059c3b6d82c0463f2ff062c9e95845c43a6c9c0355411be"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "find-msvc-tools"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7fd99930f64d146689264c637b5af2f0233a933bef0d8570e2526bf9e083192d"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fixedbitset"
 version = "0.5.7"
@@ -138,6 +163,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "prost",
  "prost-build",
  "prost-types",
+ "protobuf-src",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -239,6 +265,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "prost",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "protobuf-src"
+version = "2.1.1+27.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6217c3504da19b85a3a4b2e9a5183d635822d83507ba0986624b5c05b83bfc40"
+dependencies = [
+ "cmake",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "quote"
 version = "1.0.40"
@@ -296,6 +331,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "shlex"
+version = "1.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0fda2ff0d084019ba4d7c6f371c95d8fd75ce3524c3cb8fb653a3023f6323e64"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "2.0.106"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c97d103..33ace3d 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ heck = "0.5.0"
 prost = "0.14.1"
 prost-build = "0.14.1"
 prost-types = "0.14.1"
+protobuf-src = { version = "2.1.1", optional = true }
+
 
 [features]
-default = []
\ No newline at end of file
+default = []
+build-protoc = ["protobuf-src"] # Build `protoc` from source instead of relying on a system installation
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
index 280a540..6d006e7 100644
--- a/build.rs
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ const PROTOS: &[&str] = &[
 ];
 
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    #[cfg(feature = "build-protoc")]
+    {
+        println!("build-protoc feature is enabled");
+        env::set_var("PROTOC", protobuf_src::protoc());
+    }
     let out_dir = PathBuf::from(env::var("OUT_DIR").expect("OUT_DIR not set"));
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=proto");