diff --git a/update_engine.gyp b/update_engine.gyp
index d2d9ca1..490926e 100644
--- a/update_engine.gyp
+++ b/update_engine.gyp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
         'proto_in_dir': '.',
         'proto_out_dir': 'include/update_engine',
         'exported_deps': [
-          'protobuf',
+          'protobuf-lite',
         ],
         'deps': ['<@(exported_deps)'],
       },
diff --git a/update_metadata.proto b/update_metadata.proto
index 6c2b888..1a8fd4b 100644
--- a/update_metadata.proto
+++ b/update_metadata.proto
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 //   to block size.
 
 package chromeos_update_engine;
+option optimize_for = LITE_RUNTIME;
 
 // Data is packed into blocks on disk, always starting from the beginning
 // of the block. If a file's data is too large for one block, it overflows