diff --git a/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl b/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl
index 94874fe93713267185cd36849bfb53d3bfc12579..b9d7eb5902b8c1dbb895c1dc4cf5a1402fd325fc 100644
--- a/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl
+++ b/bazel/cc_grpc_library.bzl
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 load("//:bazel/generate_cc.bzl", "generate_cc")
 
-def cc_grpc_library(name, srcs, deps, proto_only, use_external, **kwargs):
+def cc_grpc_library(name, srcs, deps, proto_only, use_external = False, **kwargs):
   """Generates C++ grpc classes from a .proto file.
 
   Assumes the generated classes will be used in cc_api_version = 2.