diff --git a/test/cpp/qps/BUILD b/test/cpp/qps/BUILD
index de46847963b0cee1ae0201b741638f6cabe646a2..c6a1fd2fcee56d33ccbe2a7411f2a1577e347e44 100644
--- a/test/cpp/qps/BUILD
+++ b/test/cpp/qps/BUILD
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ grpc_cc_library(
     srcs = ["parse_json.cc"],
     hdrs = ["parse_json.h"],
     deps = ["//:grpc++"],
+    external_deps = ["protobuf"],
 )
 
 grpc_cc_library(