diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-compute/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-compute/default.nix
index b1b982aeedfd..0e23f48da94c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-compute/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-compute/default.nix
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   build-system = [ setuptools ];
 
+  pythonRelaxDeps = [
+    "protobuf"
+  ];
+
   dependencies = [
     google-api-core
     proto-plus