diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 93328e2624..6cc16768bd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -1512,10 +1512,11 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - name: Install rustup stable
         run: rustup toolchain install stable --profile minimal
+      # Protoc is an external dependency of the `otel` feature.
       - name: Install Protoc
         uses: arduino/setup-protoc@v3
         env:
-          # renovate: datasource=github-releases depName=protocolbuffers/protobuf versioning=semver
+          # renovate: datasource=github-releases depName=protocolbuffers/protobuf versioning=semver-coerced
           PROTOBUF_VERSION: "34.1"
         with:
           version: ${{ env.PROTOBUF_VERSION }}
diff --git a/ci/actions-templates/all-features-template.yaml b/ci/actions-templates/all-features-template.yaml
index 4798220da4..a49846e358 100644
--- a/ci/actions-templates/all-features-template.yaml
+++ b/ci/actions-templates/all-features-template.yaml
@@ -24,10 +24,11 @@ jobs: # skip-all
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - name: Install rustup stable
         run: rustup toolchain install stable --profile minimal
+      # Protoc is an external dependency of the `otel` feature.
       - name: Install Protoc
         uses: arduino/setup-protoc@v3
         env:
-          # renovate: datasource=github-releases depName=protocolbuffers/protobuf versioning=semver
+          # renovate: datasource=github-releases depName=protocolbuffers/protobuf versioning=semver-coerced
           PROTOBUF_VERSION: "34.1"
         with:
           version: ${{ env.PROTOBUF_VERSION }}