diff --git a/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-linux.cmake b/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-linux.cmake
index b0835c0951..be12a62ad5 100644
--- a/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-linux.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-linux.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2019-2022, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2019-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -78,14 +78,10 @@ set(Protobuf_USE_STATIC_LIBS YES)
 # deliberatelly use protobuf instead of Protobuf to use protobuf provided cmake configuration file
 # then use Protobuf to utilize our FindProtobuf.cmake to discover the rest
 find_package(protobuf REQUIRED CONFIG)
-find_package(Protobuf 2.0 REQUIRED)
-if(${Protobuf_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "3.0")
-  message(STATUS "TensorFlow TFRecord file format support is not available with Protobuf 2")
-else()
-  message(STATUS "Enabling TensorFlow TFRecord file format support")
-  add_definitions(-DDALI_BUILD_PROTO3=1)
-  set(BUILD_PROTO3 ON CACHE STRING "Build proto3")
-endif()
+find_package(Protobuf 3.6.1 REQUIRED)
+message(STATUS "Enabling TensorFlow TFRecord file format support")
+add_definitions(-DDALI_BUILD_PROTO3=1)
+set(BUILD_PROTO3 ON CACHE STRING "Build proto3")
 
 include_directories(SYSTEM ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 list(APPEND DALI_LIBS protobuf::libprotobuf)
diff --git a/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-qnx.cmake b/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-qnx.cmake
index b9ac298ab9..33e28e0aa7 100644
--- a/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-qnx.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Dependencies.aarch64-qnx.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2019, 2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2019, 2021, 2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -82,14 +82,10 @@ include(cmake/Dependencies.common.cmake)
 ##################################################################
 set(Protobuf_CROSS YES)
 set(Protobuf_USE_STATIC_LIBS YES)
-find_package(Protobuf 2.0 REQUIRED)
-if(${Protobuf_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "3.0")
-  message(STATUS "TensorFlow TFRecord file format support is not available with Protobuf 2")
-else()
-  message(STATUS "Enabling TensorFlow TFRecord file format support")
-  add_definitions(-DDALI_BUILD_PROTO3=1)
-  set(BUILD_PROTO3 ON CACHE STRING "Build proto3")
-endif()
+find_package(Protobuf 3.6.1 REQUIRED)
+message(STATUS "Enabling TensorFlow TFRecord file format support")
+add_definitions(-DDALI_BUILD_PROTO3=1)
+set(BUILD_PROTO3 ON CACHE STRING "Build proto3")
 
 include_directories(SYSTEM ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 set(DALI_SYSTEM_LIBS "")
diff --git a/cmake/Dependencies.cmake b/cmake/Dependencies.cmake
index ccb88599e3..01f3d3549f 100644
--- a/cmake/Dependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Dependencies.cmake
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2017-2019, 2021, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2017-2024, NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 #
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -118,14 +118,10 @@ if (BUILD_PROTOBUF)
   # deliberatelly use protobuf instead of Protobuf to use protobuf provided cmake configuration file
   # then use Protobuf to utilize our FindProtobuf.cmake to discover the rest
   find_package(protobuf REQUIRED CONFIG)
-  find_package(Protobuf 2.0 REQUIRED)
-  if(${Protobuf_VERSION} VERSION_LESS "3.0")
-    message(STATUS "TensorFlow TFRecord file format support is not available with Protobuf 2")
-  else()
-    message(STATUS "Enabling TensorFlow TFRecord file format support")
-    add_definitions(-DDALI_BUILD_PROTO3=1)
-    set(BUILD_PROTO3 ON CACHE STRING "Build proto3")
-  endif()
+  find_package(Protobuf 3.6.1 REQUIRED)
+  message(STATUS "Enabling TensorFlow TFRecord file format support")
+  add_definitions(-DDALI_BUILD_PROTO3=1)
+  set(BUILD_PROTO3 ON CACHE STRING "Build proto3")
 
   include_directories(SYSTEM ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIRS})
   list(APPEND DALI_LIBS protobuf::libprotobuf)
diff --git a/conda/dali_native_libs/recipe/meta.yaml b/conda/dali_native_libs/recipe/meta.yaml
index 495f7a0a6f..e4ef589d3d 100644
--- a/conda/dali_native_libs/recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda/dali_native_libs/recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ requirements:
     - python-clang
     - git-lfs
   host:
-    - protobuf
-    - libprotobuf-static
+    - protobuf >=3.6.1
+    - libprotobuf-static >=3.6.1
     - libjpeg-turbo
     - dali-opencv
     - dali-ffmpeg
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ requirements:
     # dependency to install the right version on the libabseil (as protobuf depends on
     # libprotobuf-static and a newer version of libprotobuf-static may be available than
     # the protobuf was build with)
-    - protobuf
+    - protobuf >=3.6.1
     - openjpeg
     - cfitsio
 about:
diff --git a/conda/dali_python_bindings/recipe/meta.yaml b/conda/dali_python_bindings/recipe/meta.yaml
index 13f87cd5a2..358249b070 100644
--- a/conda/dali_python_bindings/recipe/meta.yaml
+++ b/conda/dali_python_bindings/recipe/meta.yaml
@@ -78,10 +78,10 @@ requirements:
   host:
     - dali-opencv
     - dali-ffmpeg
-    - libprotobuf-static
+    - libprotobuf-static >=3.6.1
     - python
     - future
-    - protobuf
+    - protobuf >=3.6.1
     - astunparse >=1.6.0
     - gast >=0.3.3
     - dm-tree >=0.1.8