diff --git a/pkgs/applications/networking/mumble/default.nix b/pkgs/applications/networking/mumble/default.nix
index f589a149d85c..321493682302 100644
--- a/pkgs/applications/networking/mumble/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/applications/networking/mumble/default.nix
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 { stdenv, fetchurl, fetchFromGitHub, fetchpatch, makeWrapper, pkgconfig
-, qt4, qmake4Hook, qt5, avahi, boost, libopus, libsndfile, protobuf, speex, libcap
+, qt4, qmake4Hook, qt5, avahi, boost, libopus, libsndfile, protobuf3_6, speex, libcap
 , alsaLib, python
 , jackSupport ? false, libjack2 ? null
 , speechdSupport ? false, speechd ? null
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ let
     nativeBuildInputs = [ pkgconfig python ]
       ++ { qt4 = [ qmake4Hook ]; qt5 = [ qt5.qmake ]; }."qt${toString source.qtVersion}"
       ++ (overrides.nativeBuildInputs or [ ]);
-    buildInputs = [ boost protobuf avahi ]
+
+    # protobuf is freezed to 3.6 because of this bug: https://github.com/mumble-voip/mumble/issues/3617
+    # this could be reverted to the latest version in a future release of mumble as it is already fixed in master
+    buildInputs = [ boost protobuf3_6 avahi ]
       ++ { qt4 = [ qt4 ]; qt5 = [ qt5.qtbase ]; }."qt${toString source.qtVersion}"
       ++ (overrides.buildInputs or [ ]);