diff --git a/srcpkgs/bloaty/template b/srcpkgs/bloaty/template
index bcd509759ed..ebe13af361b 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/bloaty/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/bloaty/template
@@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ homepage="https://github.com/google/bloaty"
 distfiles="https://github.com/google/bloaty/releases/download/v${version}/bloaty-${version}.tar.bz2"
 checksum=e1cf9830ba6c455218fdb50e7a8554ff256da749878acfaf77c032140d7ddde0
 
+if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
+	hostmakedepends+=" protobuf"
+fi
+
 do_install() {
 	vbin build/bloaty
 }