diff --git a/nix/cmake-install-path.patch b/nix/cmake-install-path.patch
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/cmake-install-path.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+diff --git a/cmake/install.cmake b/cmake/install.cmake
+index 9dd6e77..3c2e769 100644
+--- a/cmake/install.cmake
++++ b/cmake/install.cmake
+@@ -127,24 +127,20 @@ configure_file(protobuf-options.cmake
+ if (protobuf_BUILD_PROTOC_BINARIES)
+   export(TARGETS libprotobuf-lite libprotobuf libprotoc protoc
+     NAMESPACE protobuf::
+-    FILE ${CMAKE_INSTALL_CMAKEDIR}/protobuf-targets.cmake
++    FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf-targets.cmake
+   )
+ else (protobuf_BUILD_PROTOC_BINARIES)
+   export(TARGETS libprotobuf-lite libprotobuf
+     NAMESPACE protobuf::
+-    FILE ${CMAKE_INSTALL_CMAKEDIR}/protobuf-targets.cmake
++    FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/protobuf-targets.cmake
+   )
+ endif (protobuf_BUILD_PROTOC_BINARIES)
+
+ install(EXPORT protobuf-targets
+   DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_CMAKEDIR}"
++  FILE protobuf-targets.cmake
+   NAMESPACE protobuf::
+-  COMPONENT protobuf-export)
+-
+-install(DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_CMAKEDIR}/
+-  DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_CMAKEDIR}"
+   COMPONENT protobuf-export
+-  PATTERN protobuf-targets.cmake EXCLUDE
+ )
+
+ option(protobuf_INSTALL_EXAMPLES "Install the examples folder" OFF)
diff --git a/nix/overlay.nix b/nix/overlay.nix
--- a/nix/overlay.nix
+++ b/nix/overlay.nix
@@ -13,5 +13,7 @@
   # add packages meant for just this repository
   amqp-cpp = prev.callPackage ./amqp-cpp.nix { };
 
+  protobuf_3_15_cmake = prev.callPackage ./protobuf_3_15.nix { };
+
   devShell = final.callPackage ./dev-shell.nix { };
 }
diff --git a/nix/protobuf_3_15.nix b/nix/protobuf_3_15.nix
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nix/protobuf_3_15.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+# The cmake version of this build is meant to enable both cmake and .pc being exported
+# this is important because grpc exports a .cmake file which also expects for protobuf
+# to have been exported through cmake as well.
+{ lib, stdenv
+, buildPackages
+, cmake
+, fetchFromGitHub
+, fetchpatch
+, gtest
+, zlib
+}:
+
+let
+  mkProtobufDerivation = buildProtobuf: stdenv: stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
+    pname = "protobuf";
+    version = "3.20.0";
+
+    src = fetchFromGitHub {
+      owner = "protocolbuffers";
+      repo = "protobuf";
+      rev = "v${version}";
+      sha256 = "sha256-dTUJ2wSyK3AHirfYzNbugRU92Ayay8cUdFowBm5D2WI=";
+    };
+
+    # re-create git submodules
+    postPatch = ''
+      rm -rf gmock
+      cp -r ${gtest.src}/googlemock third_party/gmock
+      cp -r ${gtest.src}/googletest third_party/
+
+      chmod -R a+w third_party/
+      ln -s ../googletest third_party/gmock/gtest
+      ln -s ../gmock third_party/googletest/googlemock
+      ln -s $(pwd)/third_party/googletest third_party/googletest/googletest
+    '' + lib.optionalString stdenv.isDarwin ''
+      substituteInPlace src/google/protobuf/testing/googletest.cc \
+      --replace 'tmpnam(b)' '"'$TMPDIR'/foo"'
+    '';
+
+    patches = [
+      # This is an adjusted patch for https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/pull/9822
+      ./cmake-install-path.patch
+    ];
+
+    nativeBuildInputs = [
+      cmake
+      # buildPackages ensure that the package is compatible by the machine building it
+      buildPackages.which
+      buildPackages.stdenv.cc
+      buildProtobuf
+    ];
+
+    buildInputs = [
+      zlib
+    ];
+
+    # after 3.20, CMakeLists.txt can now be found at the top-level, however
+    # a stub cmake/CMakeLists.txt still exists for compatibility with previous build assumptions
+    cmakeDir = "../cmake";
+    cmakeFlags = lib.optionals (!stdenv.targetPlatform.isStatic) [
+      "-Dprotobuf_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON"
+    ];
+
+    enableParallelBuilding = true;
+
+    # unfortunately the shared libraries have yet to been patched by nix, thus tests will fail
+    doCheck = false;
+
+    meta = {
+      description = "Google's data interchange format";
+      longDescription = ''
+        Protocol Buffers are a way of encoding structured data in an efficient
+        yet extensible format. Google uses Protocol Buffers for almost all of
+        its internal RPC protocols and file formats.
+      '';
+      license = lib.licenses.bsd3;
+      platforms = lib.platforms.unix;
+      homepage = "https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/";
+    };
+  };
+in
+  # this is meant to handle cross compilation logic
+  mkProtobufDerivation(if (stdenv.buildPlatform != stdenv.hostPlatform)
+    then (mkProtobufDerivation null buildPackages.stdenv)
+    else null) stdenv