diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-automl/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-automl/default.nix
index 497aa28becd0..484c54ebf3d9 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-automl/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/google-cloud-automl/default.nix
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
 
   build-system = [ setuptools ];
 
+  pythonRelaxDeps = [
+    "protobuf"
+  ];
+
   dependencies = [
     google-api-core
     proto-plus