diff --git a/externals/CMakeLists.txt b/externals/CMakeLists.txt
index 16b7253fc..05e8f7cfa 100644
--- a/externals/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/externals/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -383,12 +383,13 @@ if (APPLE AND NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_VULKAN AND NOT ENABLE_TESTS)
 endif()
 
 # protobuf
-set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS           OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
-set(protobuf_BUILD_EXAMPLES        OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
-set(protobuf_BUILD_PROTOC_BINARIES ON  CACHE INTERNAL "")
-set(protobuf_INSTALL               OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
-set(protobuf_WITH_ZLIB             OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
-set(protobuf_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS     OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS              OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_BUILD_EXAMPLES           OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_BUILD_PROTOC_BINARIES    ON  CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_INSTALL                  OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_WITH_ZLIB                OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS        OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(protobuf_FORCE_FETCH_DEPENDENCIES ON  CACHE INTERNAL "")
 if(MSVC)
 set(protobuf_MSVC_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
 endif()