diff --git a/ports/protobuf/portfile.cmake b/ports/protobuf/portfile.cmake
index 0cc37f6d9129bc..2c4497fe04fbbd 100644
--- a/ports/protobuf/portfile.cmake
+++ b/ports/protobuf/portfile.cmake
@@ -130,4 +130,7 @@ foreach(_package IN LISTS packages)
     endif()
 endforeach()
 
-vcpkg_fixup_pkgconfig()
+if(NOT VCPKG_TARGET_IS_WINDOWS)
+    set(SYSTEM_LIBRARIES SYSTEM_LIBRARIES pthread)
+endif()
+vcpkg_fixup_pkgconfig(${SYSTEM_LIBRARIES})