diff --git a/cmake/external/protobuf.cmake b/cmake/external/protobuf.cmake
index e05b7694ddf1e1652b00f156cde1a2d433c9fc46..568297b076a87c248d382d3c0df0be13caa589d7 100644
--- a/cmake/external/protobuf.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external/protobuf.cmake
@@ -122,6 +122,9 @@ macro(PROMPT_PROTOBUF_LIB)
     # make `protobuf_generate_cpp` happy.
     SET(Protobuf_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
 
+    # For CMake 3.9 and above
+    add_executable(protobuf::protoc ALIAS protoc)
+
     FOREACH(dep ${protobuf_DEPS})
         ADD_DEPENDENCIES(protobuf ${dep})
         ADD_DEPENDENCIES(protobuf_lite ${dep})