diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index cae61bf239a97..0067d69837eed 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 - Fix race condition in node-join and node-left ([#15521](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/15521))
 - Streaming bulk request hangs ([#16158](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16158))
 - Fix warnings from SLF4J on startup when repository-s3 is installed ([#16194](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16194))
+- Fix protobuf-java leak through client library dependencies ([#16254](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/16254))
 
 ### Security
 
diff --git a/client/rest-high-level/build.gradle b/client/rest-high-level/build.gradle
index fdc93d8037ce6..b08df5bf09bac 100644
--- a/client/rest-high-level/build.gradle
+++ b/client/rest-high-level/build.gradle
@@ -50,7 +50,9 @@ restResources {
 }
 
 dependencies {
-  api project(':server')
+  api(project(':server')) {
+    exclude group: 'com.google.protobuf'
+  }
   api project(':client:rest')
   api project(':modules:mapper-extras')
   api project(':modules:parent-join')
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/rest/action/document/RestBulkStreamingAction.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/rest/action/document/RestBulkStreamingAction.java
index 2e0d1b8ead814..42b4ed3ef3b84 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/rest/action/document/RestBulkStreamingAction.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/rest/action/document/RestBulkStreamingAction.java
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@
 
 package org.opensearch.rest.action.document;
 
-import com.google.protobuf.ExperimentalApi;
 import org.opensearch.action.ActionRequestValidationException;
 import org.opensearch.action.DocWriteRequest;
 import org.opensearch.action.bulk.BulkItemResponse;
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@
 import org.opensearch.action.support.ActiveShardCount;
 import org.opensearch.client.Requests;
 import org.opensearch.client.node.NodeClient;
+import org.opensearch.common.annotation.ExperimentalApi;
 import org.opensearch.common.collect.Tuple;
 import org.opensearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.opensearch.common.unit.TimeValue;
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
  * { "type1" : { "field1" : "value1" } }
  * </pre>
  *
- * @opensearch.api
+ * @opensearch.experimental
  */
 @ExperimentalApi
 public class RestBulkStreamingAction extends BaseRestHandler {