diff --git a/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/darwin/processes.py b/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/darwin/processes.py
index f5e55c8..f2e4513 100644
--- a/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/darwin/processes.py
+++ b/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/darwin/processes.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import dataclasses
 import errno
 import logging
+import os
 import posixpath
 import re
 import struct
@@ -30,11 +31,14 @@
 from rpcclient.exceptions import ArgumentError, BadReturnValueError, MissingLibraryError, ProcessSymbolAbsentError, \
     RpcClientException, SymbolAbsentError, UnrecognizedSelectorError
 from rpcclient.processes import Processes
-from rpcclient.protos.rpc_pb2 import ARCH_ARM64
 from rpcclient.structs.consts import RTLD_NOW, SEEK_SET, SIGKILL, SIGTERM
 from rpcclient.symbol import ADDRESS_SIZE_TO_STRUCT_FORMAT, Symbol
 from rpcclient.sysctl import CTL, KERN
 
+# make sure imports from the *_pb2 modules don't depend on the locally installed protobuf version
+os.environ['PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION'] = 'python'
+from rpcclient.protos.rpc_pb2 import ARCH_ARM64  # noqa: E402
+
 _CF_STRING_ARRAY_PREFIX_LEN = len('    "')
 _CF_STRING_ARRAY_SUFFIX_LEN = len('",')
 _BACKTRACE_FRAME_REGEX = re.compile(r'\[\s*(\d+)\] (0x[0-9a-f]+)\s+\{(.+?) \+ (.+?)\} (.*)')
diff --git a/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/protosocket.py b/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/protosocket.py
index 938b4e4..dd20e24 100644
--- a/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/protosocket.py
+++ b/src/rpcclient/rpcclient/protosocket.py
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
+import os
 import socket
 import struct
 import threading
 
 from rpcclient.exceptions import InvalidServerVersionMagicError, ServerDiedError, ServerResponseError
-from rpcclient.protos.rpc_pb2 import CmdClose, Command, Handshake, Response
+
+# make sure imports from the *_pb2 modules don't depend on the locally installed protobuf version
+os.environ['PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION'] = 'python'
+from rpcclient.protos.rpc_pb2 import CmdClose, Command, Handshake, Response  # noqa: E402
 
 # field[0] is MAGIC - skip
 COMMAND_MAPPING = {field.message_type.name: field.name for field in Command.DESCRIPTOR.fields[1:]}
diff --git a/src/rpcclient/tests/conftest.py b/src/rpcclient/tests/conftest.py
index 264f303..9518355 100644
--- a/src/rpcclient/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/src/rpcclient/tests/conftest.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import os
 from contextlib import closing
 from uuid import uuid4
 
@@ -7,7 +8,10 @@
 from rpcclient.darwin.client import DarwinClient
 from rpcclient.exceptions import BadReturnValueError
 from rpcclient.ios.client import IosClient
-from rpcclient.protos.rpc_pb2 import ARCH_ARM64
+
+# make sure imports from the *_pb2 modules don't depend on the locally installed protobuf version
+os.environ['PROTOCOL_BUFFERS_PYTHON_IMPLEMENTATION'] = 'python'
+from rpcclient.protos.rpc_pb2 import ARCH_ARM64  # noqa: E402
 
 
 @pytest.fixture