diff --git a/internal/core/src/exceptions/CMakeLists.txt b/internal/core/src/exceptions/CMakeLists.txt
index f6fff0669e..06926bf784 100644
--- a/internal/core/src/exceptions/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/internal/core/src/exceptions/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@ set(exceptions_files
 )
 
 add_library(milvus_exceptions ${exceptions_files})
-target_link_libraries(milvus_exceptions milvus_proto)
+target_link_libraries(milvus_exceptions PRIVATE milvus_proto)
diff --git a/internal/core/src/pb/CMakeLists.txt b/internal/core/src/pb/CMakeLists.txt
index 73326db301..ea41a1b9de 100644
--- a/internal/core/src/pb/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/internal/core/src/pb/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,33 +9,33 @@
 # is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express
 # or implied. See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License
 
-get_property(PROTOC_EXCUTABLE GLOBAL PROPERTY PROTOC_EXCUTABLE )
+set( proto_file_names
+    segcore.proto
+    index_cgo_msg.proto
+    plan.proto
+    etcd_meta.proto
+    milvus.proto
+    schema.proto
+    common.proto
+    )
 
-
-set(proto_file_names common.proto etcd_meta.proto schema.proto milvus.proto index_cgo_msg.proto plan.proto segcore.proto)
-
-set( PROTO_PATH          "${MILVUS_SOURCE_DIR}/../proto/" )
+set( PROTO_PATH  "${MILVUS_SOURCE_DIR}/../proto/" )
 
 FOREACH(proto_file ${proto_file_names})
-    STRING(REGEX REPLACE "[^/]proto" "" proto_src_file_name ${proto_file})
-    LIST(APPEND MILVUS_PROTO_SRCS "${proto_src_file_name}.pb.cc")
+    STRING( REGEX REPLACE "[^/]proto" "" proto_src_file_name ${proto_file} )
+    LIST( APPEND milvus_proto_srcs "${proto_src_file_name}.pb.cc" )
 
     ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(
-	OUTPUT "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${proto_src_file_name}.pb.h" "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${proto_src_file_name}.pb.cc"
-	COMMAND ${PROTOC_EXCUTABLE} --proto_path=${PROTO_PATH}/
-	--cpp_out=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/ ${proto_file}
-	DEPENDS ${PROTO_PATH}/${proto_file}
-    )
+        OUTPUT  "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${proto_src_file_name}.pb.h"
+                "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${proto_src_file_name}.pb.cc"
+        COMMAND protobuf::protoc --proto_path=${PROTO_PATH}/
+                --cpp_out=${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/
+                ${proto_file}
+        DEPENDS ${PROTO_PATH}/${proto_file} )
 
 ENDFOREACH(proto_file)
 
-add_library(milvus_proto STATIC
-	${MILVUS_PROTO_SRCS}
-        )
-message(${MILVUS_PROTO_SRCS})
+add_library(milvus_proto STATIC ${milvus_proto_srcs})
+message(STATUS "milvus proto sources: " ${milvus_proto_srcs})
 
-target_link_libraries(milvus_proto
-	libprotobuf
-        )
-
-add_dependencies( milvus_proto protoc )
+target_link_libraries( milvus_proto PUBLIC protobuf::libprotobuf)
diff --git a/internal/core/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt b/internal/core/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
index 89be5c761b..6b2f967a37 100644
--- a/internal/core/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/internal/core/thirdparty/protobuf/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
-# Copyright 2017 gRPC authors.
-#
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+# Licensed to the LF AI & Data foundation under one
+# or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+# distributed with this work for additional information
+# regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+# to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+# with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
 #
 #     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 #
@@ -12,70 +14,34 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-if ( DEFINED ENV{MILVUS_GTEST_URL} )
-    set( GTEST_SOURCE_URL "$ENV{MILVUS_GTEST_URL}" )
-else()
-    set( GTEST_SOURCE_URL
-	 "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v3.9.0/protobuf-cpp-3.9.0.zip")
-endif()
+set( PROTOBUF_SOURCE_URL
+     "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v3.9.0/protobuf-cpp-3.9.0.zip" )
 
 message( STATUS "Building protobuf-cpp-3.9.0 from source" )
 
-FetchContent_Declare(
-    protobuf
-    URL        ${GTEST_SOURCE_URL} 
-    URL_MD5    "9562b27cc6ac5ebd087f201f1310c885"
+FetchContent_Declare( protobuf
+    URL             ${PROTOBUF_SOURCE_URL}
+    URL_MD5         "9562b27cc6ac5ebd087f201f1310c885"
     DOWNLOAD_DIR    ${THIRDPARTY_DOWNLOAD_PATH}
     SOURCE_DIR      ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf-src
     BINARY_DIR      ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf-build
-
 )
 
 set( protobuf_BUILD_TESTS CACHE BOOL OFF FORCE )
-
+set( protobuf_WITH_ZLIB CACHE BOOL OFF FORCE )
 if ( NOT protobuf_POPULATED )
     FetchContent_Populate( protobuf )
 
-    add_subdirectory(${protobuf_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake 
-	    ${protobuf_BINARY_DIR} 
-	    EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
-
+    # Adding the following targets:
+    # protobuf::libprotobuf - static target
+    # protobuf::protoc - executable target
+    add_subdirectory( ${protobuf_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake
+                      ${protobuf_BINARY_DIR}
+                      EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL )
 endif()
 
+get_target_property( PROTOBUF_INCLUDE_DIR protobuf::libprotobuf INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES )
+message( STATUS "protobuf interface include dir" ${PROTOBUF_INCLUDE_DIR} )
 
-set(_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY_NAME "libprotobuf")
-
-#if(TARGET libprotoc)
-set(_gRPC_PROTOBUF_PROTOC_LIBRARIES libprotoc)
-#endif()
-
-set(gRPC_PROTOBUF_PROVIDER "module" CACHE STRING "Provider of protobuf library")
-set_property(CACHE gRPC_PROTOBUF_PROVIDER PROPERTY STRINGS "module" "package")
-
-
-#if(TARGET protoc)
-set(_gRPC_PROTOBUF_PROTOC protoc)
-set(_gRPC_PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE $<TARGET_FILE:protoc>)
-#endif()
-
-# Building the protobuf tests require gmock what is not part of a standard protobuf checkout.
-# Disable them unless they are explicitly requested from the cmake command line (when we assume
-# gmock is downloaded to the right location inside protobuf).
-if(NOT protobuf_BUILD_TESTS)
-set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build protobuf tests")
-endif()
-
-# Disable building protobuf with zlib. Building protobuf with zlib breaks
-# the build if zlib is not installed on the system.
-if(NOT protobuf_WITH_ZLIB)
-set(protobuf_WITH_ZLIB OFF CACHE BOOL "Build protobuf with zlib.")
-endif()
-
-if(NOT PROTOBUF_ROOT_DIR)
-  #set(PROTOBUF_ROOT_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/third_party/protobuf)
-  set(PROTOBUF_ROOT_DIR ${protobuf_SOURCE_DIR})
-endif()
-
-
-set( PROTOC_EXCUTABLE           $<TARGET_FILE:protoc> )
-set_property( GLOBAL PROPERTY PROTOC_EXCUTABLE ${PROTOC_EXCUTABLE})
+get_target_property( PROTOC_INCLUDE_DIR protobuf::protoc INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES )
+message( STATUS "protoc interface include dir" ${PROTOC_INCLUDE_DIR} )