diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 4fd20535dfe420377772c98f039a98df6050924b..96f206b0423b393837ca63ec92b157cb66b5b0b8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ message from the remote client containing the user's name, then send back
 a greeting in a single `HelloReply`. This is the simplest type of RPC you
 can specify in gRPC - we'll look at some other types later in this document.
 
-```
+```proto
 syntax = "proto3";
 
 option java_package = "io.grpc.examples";