diff --git a/ci/constants.py b/ci/constants.py
index 804ceffa0d..e7f84aca02 100644
--- a/ci/constants.py
+++ b/ci/constants.py
@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ class TargetPython(Enum):
     'm2crypto',
     'netifaces',
     'Pillow',
+    # requires autoconf system dependency on host
+    # https://api.travis-ci.org/v3/job/450538715/log.txt
+    'protobuf_cpp',
     # https://github.com/kivy/python-for-android/issues/1405
     'psycopg2',
     'pygame',
diff --git a/pythonforandroid/recipes/protobuf_cpp/__init__.py b/pythonforandroid/recipes/protobuf_cpp/__init__.py
index 1c01901a9c..6cfa674b57 100644
--- a/pythonforandroid/recipes/protobuf_cpp/__init__.py
+++ b/pythonforandroid/recipes/protobuf_cpp/__init__.py
@@ -1,21 +1,60 @@
 from pythonforandroid.recipe import PythonRecipe
-from pythonforandroid.logger import shprint
+from pythonforandroid.logger import shprint, info_notify
 from pythonforandroid.util import current_directory, shutil
 from os.path import exists, join, dirname
 import sh
 from multiprocessing import cpu_count
-
-
 from pythonforandroid.toolchain import info
+import sys
+import os
 
 
 class ProtobufCppRecipe(PythonRecipe):
     name = 'protobuf_cpp'
-    version = '3.1.0'
+    version = '3.5.1'
     url = 'https://github.com/google/protobuf/releases/download/v{version}/protobuf-python-{version}.tar.gz'
     call_hostpython_via_targetpython = False
     depends = ['cffi', 'setuptools']
     site_packages_name = 'google/protobuf/pyext'
+    protoc_dir = None
+
+    def prebuild_arch(self, arch):
+        super(ProtobufCppRecipe, self).prebuild_arch(arch)
+        # During building, host needs to transpile .proto files to .py
+        # ideally with the same version as protobuf runtime, or with an older one.
+        # Because protoc is compiled for target (i.e. Android), we need an other binary
+        # which can be run by host.
+        # To make it easier, we download prebuild protoc binary adapted to the platform
+
+        info_notify("Downloading protoc compiler for your platform")
+        url_prefix = "https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/releases/download/v{version}".format(version=self.version)
+        if sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
+            info_notify("GNU/Linux detected")
+            filename = "protoc-{version}-linux-x86_64.zip".format(version=self.version)
+        elif sys.platform.startswith('darwin'):
+            info_notify("Mac OS X detected")
+            filename = "protoc-{version}-osx-x86_64.zip".format(version=self.version)
+        else:
+            info_notify("Your platform is not supported, but recipe can still "
+                        "be built if you have a valid protoc (<={version}) in "
+                        "your path".format(version=self.version))
+            return
+
+        protoc_url = join(url_prefix, filename)
+        self.protoc_dir = join(self.ctx.build_dir, "tools", "protoc")
+        if os.path.exists(join(self.protoc_dir, "bin", "protoc")):
+            info_notify("protoc found, no download needed")
+            return
+        try:
+            os.makedirs(self.protoc_dir)
+        except OSError as e:
+            # if dir already exists (errno 17), we ignore the error
+            if e.errno != 17:
+                raise e
+        info_notify("Will download into {dest_dir}".format(dest_dir=self.protoc_dir))
+        self.download_file(protoc_url, join(self.protoc_dir, filename))
+        with current_directory(self.protoc_dir):
+            shprint(sh.unzip, join(self.protoc_dir, filename))
 
     def build_arch(self, arch):
         env = self.get_recipe_env(arch)
@@ -85,7 +124,9 @@ def install_python_package(self, arch):
 
     def get_recipe_env(self, arch):
         env = super(ProtobufCppRecipe, self).get_recipe_env(arch)
-        env['PROTOC'] = '/home/fipo/soft/protobuf-3.1.0/src/protoc'
+        if self.protoc_dir is not None:
+            # we need protoc with binary for host platform
+            env['PROTOC'] = join(self.protoc_dir, 'bin', 'protoc')
         env['PYTHON_ROOT'] = self.ctx.get_python_install_dir()
         env['TARGET_OS'] = 'OS_ANDROID_CROSSCOMPILE'
         env['CFLAGS'] += (
@@ -103,7 +144,7 @@ def get_recipe_env(self, arch):
         env['LDFLAGS'] += (
             ' -L' + self.ctx.ndk_dir +
             '/sources/cxx-stl/gnu-libstdc++/' + self.ctx.toolchain_version +
-            '/libs/' + arch.arch + ' -lgnustl_shared -lpython2.7')
+            '/libs/' + arch.arch + ' -lgnustl_shared -lpython2.7 -landroid -llog')
 
         env['LDSHARED'] = env['CC'] + ' -pthread -shared -Wl,-O1 -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions'
         return env