diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 0545efd..23fd045 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -35,10 +35,6 @@ jobs:
           set +x
           source release/source.sh
 
-      - name: Protoc
-        run: |
-          ./release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh
-
       - name: Install Go and Goreleaser
         run: |
           sudo apt-get -q update
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index 13ee1a3..df78a0a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ jobs:
           sudo apt-get -q update
           sudo apt-get -q install -y jq zip unzip curl
           git fetch --tags origin
-          ./release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh
 
       - name: Tests
         run: |
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c875018..62cb3c2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -207,7 +207,8 @@ How to make a release: [RELEASE.md](RELEASE.md)
 #### Setup
 
 - As for script utilities, one needs `bash`, `jq`, `zip`, `unzip` and `curl`.
-- One also needs to download the protoc binaries for the local development via `release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh`.
+
+Running the tests will download the protoc binaries on the first invocation automatically.
 
 For development the `generated-local.Dockerfile` (via [generate-local.Dockerfile.sh](dev/generate-local.Dockerfile.sh)) is used.
 To build the image simply run `source test/suite/setup.sh` and then `buildProtocurl`
diff --git a/doc/template.README.md b/doc/template.README.md
index 10145c9..423fc62 100644
--- a/doc/template.README.md
+++ b/doc/template.README.md
@@ -202,7 +202,8 @@ How to make a release: [RELEASE.md](RELEASE.md)
 #### Setup
 
 - As for script utilities, one needs `bash`, `jq`, `zip`, `unzip` and `curl`.
-- One also needs to download the protoc binaries for the local development via `release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh`.
+
+Running the tests will download the protoc binaries on the first invocation automatically.
 
 For development the `generated-local.Dockerfile` (via [generate-local.Dockerfile.sh](dev/generate-local.Dockerfile.sh)) is used.
 To build the image simply run `source test/suite/setup.sh` and then `buildProtocurl`
diff --git a/release/.cache/.gitignore b/release/.cache/.gitignore
index 7986d11..d6b7ef3 100644
--- a/release/.cache/.gitignore
+++ b/release/.cache/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-#dummy
+*
+!.gitignore
diff --git a/release/.gitignore b/release/.gitignore
index 1354028..4adacd1 100644
--- a/release/.gitignore
+++ b/release/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
 tmp
 generated.Dockerfile
-.cache
 new.versions.txt
diff --git a/release/10-ensure-protoc-binaries-exist.sh b/release/10-ensure-protoc-binaries-exist.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..1140059
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release/10-ensure-protoc-binaries-exist.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+source ./release/0-get-latest-dependencies-versions.sh
+
+FILES_EXIST="true"
+ls release/tmp/protoc-$PROTO_VERSION-*.zip > /dev/null 2>&1 || FILES_EXIST="false"
+
+if [[ "$FILES_EXIST" == "true" ]]; then
+  echo "Found protoc binaries for $PROTO_VERSION."
+else
+  echo "No protoc binaries for $PROTO_VERSION found. Downloading..."
+  ./release/10.1-get-protoc-binaries.sh
+fi
diff --git a/release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh b/release/10.1-get-protoc-binaries.sh
similarity index 97%
rename from release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh
rename to release/10.1-get-protoc-binaries.sh
index d0a0f07..84693b4 100755
--- a/release/10-get-protoc-binaries.sh
+++ b/release/10.1-get-protoc-binaries.sh
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -euo pipefail
 
-source release/source.sh
-
 # platforms and architectures for which Google released pre-built binaries
 VARIATIONS=(
   "linux-aarch_64"
diff --git a/release/source.sh b/release/source.sh
index 73a1ca3..73ad4d5 100755
--- a/release/source.sh
+++ b/release/source.sh
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 # PRECONDITION: git fetch origin --tags
 
-source ./release/0-get-latest-dependencies-versions.sh
+source ./release/10-ensure-protoc-binaries-exist.sh
 
 # should be one of 386, amd64 and arm64
 export BUILD_ARCH="$(uname -m | sed "s/x86_64/amd64/" | sed "s/x86_32/386/" | sed "s/aarch_64/arm64/")"
diff --git a/test/results/.gitignore b/test/results/.gitignore
index bee10d6..f4d523b 100644
--- a/test/results/.gitignore
+++ b/test/results/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-*-out.txt
\ No newline at end of file
+*-out.txt
+*-tmp.txt
+
diff --git a/test/suite/.gitignore b/test/suite/.gitignore
index ec88124..2f1900f 100644
--- a/test/suite/.gitignore
+++ b/test/suite/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
 run-testcases.sh
 tmp.Dockerfile
-results/*-tmp.txt