diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/protobufc/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/protobufc/default.nix
index dc3b2c92f19..d152512783f 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/protobufc/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/protobufc/default.nix
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 { lib
 , stdenv
 , fetchFromGitHub
-, fetchpatch
 , autoreconfHook
 , pkg-config
 , protobuf
@@ -11,28 +10,20 @@
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
   pname = "protobuf-c";
-  version = "1.4.1";
+  version = "unstable-2023-07-08";
 
   src = fetchFromGitHub {
     owner = "protobuf-c";
     repo = "protobuf-c";
-    rev = "refs/tags/v${version}";
-    hash = "sha256-TJCLzxozuZ8ynrBQ2lKyk03N+QA/lbOwywUjDUdTlbM=";
+    rev = "fa86fddbd000316772d1deb5a8d1201fa7599ef7";
+    hash = "sha256-pmqZYFREPgSrWPekymTglhtAv6gQR1gP3dOl3hqjYig=";
   };
 
-  patches = [
-    # https://github.com/protobuf-c/protobuf-c/pull/534
-    (fetchpatch {
-      url = "https://github.com/protobuf-c/protobuf-c/commit/a6c9ea5207aeac61c57b446ddf5a6b68308881d8.patch";
-      hash = "sha256-wTb8+YbvrCrOVpgthI5SJdG/CpQcOzCX4Bv47FPY804=";
-    })
-  ];
-
   nativeBuildInputs = [ autoreconfHook pkg-config ];
 
   buildInputs = [ protobuf zlib ];
 
-  PROTOC = lib.getExe buildPackages.protobuf;
+  env.PROTOC = lib.getExe buildPackages.protobuf;
 
   meta = with lib; {
     homepage = "https://github.com/protobuf-c/protobuf-c/";