diff --git a/common/shlibs b/common/shlibs
index 6fe3715505f..cef6ff07222 100644
--- a/common/shlibs
+++ b/common/shlibs
@@ -3069,9 +3069,6 @@ libm17n-flt.so.0 m17n-lib-1.7.0_1
 libm17n-gui.so.0 m17n-lib-1.7.0_1
 libm17n-core.so.0 m17n-lib-1.7.0_1
 libm17n.so.0 m17n-lib-1.7.0_1
-libprotobuf-lite.so.22 libprotobuf22-lite-3.11.2_1
-libprotoc.so.22 libprotoc22-3.11.2_1
-libprotobuf.so.22 libprotobuf22-3.11.2_1
 libprotobuf-lite.so.23 libprotobuf23-lite-3.12.1_1
 libprotoc.so.23 libprotoc23-3.12.1_1
 libprotobuf.so.23 libprotobuf23-3.12.1_1
diff --git a/srcpkgs/libprotobuf22 b/srcpkgs/libprotobuf22
deleted file mode 120000
index 779a5a300bc..00000000000
--- a/srcpkgs/libprotobuf22
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-protobuf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/srcpkgs/libprotobuf22-lite b/srcpkgs/libprotobuf22-lite
deleted file mode 120000
index 779a5a300bc..00000000000
--- a/srcpkgs/libprotobuf22-lite
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-protobuf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/srcpkgs/libprotoc22 b/srcpkgs/libprotoc22
deleted file mode 120000
index 779a5a300bc..00000000000
--- a/srcpkgs/libprotoc22
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-protobuf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/srcpkgs/protobuf/template b/srcpkgs/protobuf/template
index 072139255b5..2407e30da9f 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/protobuf/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/protobuf/template
@@ -1,94 +1,32 @@
 # Template file for 'protobuf'
 pkgname=protobuf
-version=3.11.4
+version=3.12.1
 revision=1
-build_style=gnu-configure
-hostmakedepends="pkg-config automake libtool"
-makedepends="zlib-devel"
-short_desc="Protocol buffers compiler"
-maintainer="Michael Aldridge <maldridge@voidlinux.org>"
-license="BSD-3-Clause"
-homepage="https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/"
-changelog="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/protobuf/master/CHANGES.txt"
-distfiles="https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/archive/v${version}.tar.gz"
-checksum=a79d19dcdf9139fa4b81206e318e33d245c4c9da1ffed21c87288ed4380426f9
-
-if [ "$CROSS_BUILD" ]; then
-	# needs host protoc
-	hostmakedepends+=" protobuf"
-	configure_args+=" --with-protoc=/usr/bin/protoc"
-fi
-
-if [ "$XBPS_TARGET_NO_ATOMIC8" ]; then
-	makedepends+=" libatomic-devel"
-	LDFLAGS+=" -latomic"
-fi
-
-pre_configure() {
-	autoreconf -fi
-}
-
-do_configure() {
-	# configure doesn't set proper linker flags when discovering pthread
-	PTHREAD_LIBS="-pthread" PTHREAD_CFLAGS="-pthread" ./configure ${configure_args}
-}
-
-post_install() {
-	vlicense LICENSE
-}
-
-libprotobuf22_package() {
-	short_desc="Protocol buffers C++ library"
-	pkg_install() {
-		vmove "usr/lib/libprotobuf.so.*"
-		vlicense LICENSE
-	}
-}
-
-libprotobuf22-lite_package() {
-	short_desc="Protocol buffers C++ library (lite version)"
-	pkg_install() {
-		vmove "usr/lib/libprotobuf-lite.so.*"
-		vlicense LICENSE
-	}
-}
-
-libprotoc22_package() {
-	short_desc="Protocol buffers compiler library"
-	pkg_install() {
-		vmove "usr/lib/libprotoc*.so.*"
-		vlicense LICENSE
-	}
-}
-
-libprotoc-devel_package() {
-	depends="libprotoc22-${version}_${revision}"
-	short_desc="Protocol buffers compiler library - development files"
-	pkg_install() {
-		vmove usr/lib/libprotoc.a
-		vmove usr/lib/libprotoc.so
-		vmove usr/include/google/protobuf/compiler
-	}
-}
+archs=noarch
+build_style=meta
+depends="protobuf23"
+short_desc="Protocol buffers compiler (meta package)"
+maintainer="Andrew J. Hesford <ajh@sideband.org>"
+license="Public Domain"
+homepage="https://www.voidlinux.org"
 
 protobuf-devel_package() {
-	depends="zlib-devel
-	 libprotobuf22-${version}_${revision}
-	 libprotobuf22-lite-${version}_${revision}"
-	short_desc="Protocol buffers C++ library - development files"
-	pkg_install() {
-		vmove usr/include
-		vmove usr/lib/libprotobuf.a
-		vmove usr/lib/libprotobuf-lite.a
-		vmove usr/lib/libprotobuf.so
-		vmove usr/lib/libprotobuf-lite.so
-		vmove usr/lib/pkgconfig
-	}
+	archs=noarch
+	build_style=meta
+	short_desc="Protocol buffers C++ library - development files (meta package)"
+	depends="protobuf23-devel"
 }
 
 protobuf-lite_package() {
-	build_style=meta
-	short_desc="Protocol buffers C++ library (lite version)"
-	depends="libprotobuf22-lite-${version}_${revision}"
 	archs=noarch
+	build_style=meta
+	short_desc="Protocol buffers C++ library - lite version (meta package)"
+	depends="libprotobuf23-lite"
+}
+
+libprotoc-devel_package() {
+	archs=noarch
+	build_style=meta
+	short_desc="Protocol buffers compiler library - development files (meta package)"
+	depends="libprotoc23-devel"
 }