diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1d51945e3ed46a87ef36d4cf84055a41e5d68dd3..c7b33d452dcecc99acc5741ef1b0b5e66c21ee77 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ install_db: build_db
 
 # build burrow-client
 .PHONY: build_client
-build_client: commit_hash protobuf
+build_client: commit_hash
 	go build -ldflags "-extldflags '-static' \
 	-X github.com/hyperledger/burrow/project.commit=$(shell cat commit_hash.txt)" \
 	-o ${REPO}/bin/burrow-client ./client/cmd/burrow-client