diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0129736664..0314f663d0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -47,3 +47,5 @@ hs_err_pid*
 /docs/dapr-sdk-actors
 /docs/dapr-sdk-autogen
 /docs/dapr-sdk
+/proto/dapr
+/proto/daprclient
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8d3b08f281..2c23abf4cd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -232,3 +232,20 @@ When releasing a new version of this SDK you must increase the version of all mo
 mvn versions:set -DnewVersion="0.1.0-preview02"
 mvn versions:commit
 ```
+
+#### Update proto files
+
+Change the properties below in [pom.xml](./pom.xml) to point to the desired reference URL in Git. Avoid pointing to master branch since it can change over time and create unpredictable behavior in the build.
+
+```xml
+<project>
+  ...
+  <properties>
+    ...
+    <dapr.proto.url>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/dapr/v0.4.0/pkg/proto/dapr/dapr.proto</dapr.proto.url>
+    <dapr.client.proto.url>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/dapr/v0.4.0/pkg/proto/daprclient/daprclient.proto</dapr.client.proto.url>
+    ...
+  </properties>
+  ...
+</project>
+```
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 62cbda9a55..6c463d7a85 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
     <grpc.version>1.25.0</grpc.version>
     <protobuf.version>3.11.0</protobuf.version>
     <protoc.version>3.10.0</protoc.version>
+    <dapr.proto.url>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/dapr/v0.4.0/pkg/proto/dapr/dapr.proto</dapr.proto.url>
+    <dapr.client.proto.url>https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dapr/dapr/v0.4.0/pkg/proto/daprclient/daprclient.proto</dapr.client.proto.url>
     <os-maven-plugin.version>1.6.2</os-maven-plugin.version>
     <maven-dependency-plugin.version>3.1.1</maven-dependency-plugin.version>
     <maven-antrun-plugin.version>1.8</maven-antrun-plugin.version>
diff --git a/proto/dapr/dapr.proto b/proto/dapr/dapr.proto
deleted file mode 100644
index ac451710a9..0000000000
--- a/proto/dapr/dapr.proto
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,109 +0,0 @@
-syntax = "proto3";
-
-package dapr;
-
-import "google/protobuf/any.proto";
-import "google/protobuf/empty.proto";
-import "google/protobuf/duration.proto";
-
-option java_outer_classname = "DaprProtos";
-option java_package = "io.dapr";
-
-option csharp_namespace = "Dapr.Client.Grpc";
-
-
-// Dapr definitions
-service Dapr {
-  rpc PublishEvent(PublishEventEnvelope) returns (google.protobuf.Empty) {}
-  rpc InvokeService(InvokeServiceEnvelope) returns (InvokeServiceResponseEnvelope) {}
-  rpc InvokeBinding(InvokeBindingEnvelope) returns (google.protobuf.Empty) {}
-  rpc GetState(GetStateEnvelope) returns (GetStateResponseEnvelope) {}
-  rpc SaveState(SaveStateEnvelope) returns (google.protobuf.Empty) {}
-  rpc DeleteState(DeleteStateEnvelope) returns (google.protobuf.Empty) {}
-}
-
-message InvokeServiceResponseEnvelope {
-  google.protobuf.Any data = 1;
-  map<string,string> metadata = 2;
-}
-
-message DeleteStateEnvelope {
-  string storeName = 1;
-  string key = 2;
-  string etag = 3;
-  StateOptions options = 4;
-}
-
-message SaveStateEnvelope {
-  string storeName = 1;
-  repeated StateRequest requests = 2;
-}
-
-message GetStateEnvelope {
-    string storeName = 1;
-    string key = 2;
-    string consistency = 3;
-}
-
-message GetStateResponseEnvelope {
-  google.protobuf.Any data = 1;
-  string etag = 2;
-}
-
-message InvokeBindingEnvelope {
-  string name = 1;
-  google.protobuf.Any data = 2;
-  map<string,string> metadata = 3;
-}
-
-message InvokeServiceEnvelope {
-  string id = 1;
-  string method = 2;
-  google.protobuf.Any data = 3;
-  map<string,string> metadata = 4;
-}
-
-message PublishEventEnvelope {
-    string topic = 1;
-    google.protobuf.Any data = 2;
-}
-
-message State {
-  string key = 1;
-  google.protobuf.Any value = 2;
-  string etag = 3;
-  map<string,string> metadata = 4;
-  StateOptions options = 5;
-}
-
-message StateOptions {
-  string concurrency = 1;
-  string consistency = 2;
-  RetryPolicy retryPolicy = 3;
-}
-
-message RetryPolicy {
-  int32 threshold = 1;
-  string pattern = 2;
-  google.protobuf.Duration interval = 3;
-}
-
-message StateRequest {
-  string key = 1;
-  google.protobuf.Any value = 2;
-  string etag = 3;
-  map<string,string> metadata = 4;
-  StateRequestOptions options = 5;
-}
-
-message StateRequestOptions {
-  string concurrency = 1;
-  string consistency = 2;
-  StateRetryPolicy retryPolicy = 3;
-}
-
-message StateRetryPolicy {
-  int32 threshold = 1;
-  string pattern = 2;
-  google.protobuf.Duration interval = 3;
-}
diff --git a/proto/daprclient/daprclient.proto b/proto/daprclient/daprclient.proto
deleted file mode 100644
index a383ba16c5..0000000000
--- a/proto/daprclient/daprclient.proto
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,76 +0,0 @@
-syntax = "proto3";
-
-package daprclient;
-
-import "google/protobuf/any.proto";
-import "google/protobuf/empty.proto";
-import "google/protobuf/duration.proto";
-
-option java_outer_classname = "DaprClientProtos";
-option java_package = "io.dapr";
-
-// User Code definitions
-service DaprClient {
-  rpc OnInvoke (InvokeEnvelope) returns (google.protobuf.Any) {}
-  rpc GetTopicSubscriptions(google.protobuf.Empty) returns (GetTopicSubscriptionsEnvelope) {}
-  rpc GetBindingsSubscriptions(google.protobuf.Empty) returns (GetBindingsSubscriptionsEnvelope) {}
-  rpc OnBindingEvent(BindingEventEnvelope) returns (BindingResponseEnvelope) {}
-  rpc OnTopicEvent(CloudEventEnvelope) returns (google.protobuf.Empty) {}
-}
-
-message CloudEventEnvelope {
-  string id = 1;
-  string source = 2;
-  string type = 3;
-  string specVersion = 4;
-  string dataContentType = 5;
-  string topic = 6;
-  google.protobuf.Any data = 7;
-}
-
-message BindingEventEnvelope {
-    string name = 1;
-    google.protobuf.Any data = 2;
-    map<string,string> metadata = 3;
-}
-
-message BindingResponseEnvelope {
-  google.protobuf.Any data = 1;
-  repeated string to = 2;
-  repeated State state = 3;
-  string concurrency = 4;
-}
-
-message InvokeEnvelope {
-    string method = 1;
-    google.protobuf.Any data = 2;
-    map<string,string> metadata = 3;
-}
-
-message GetTopicSubscriptionsEnvelope {
-  repeated string topics = 1;
-}
-
-message GetBindingsSubscriptionsEnvelope {
-  repeated string bindings = 1;
-}
-
-message State {
-  string key = 1;
-  google.protobuf.Any value = 2;
-  string etag = 3;
-  map<string,string> metadata = 4;
-  StateOptions options = 5;
-}
-
-message StateOptions {
-  string concurrency = 1;
-  string consistency = 2;
-  RetryPolicy retryPolicy = 3;
-}
-
-message RetryPolicy {
-  int32 threshold = 1;
-  string pattern = 2;
-  google.protobuf.Duration interval = 3;
-}
diff --git a/sdk-autogen/pom.xml b/sdk-autogen/pom.xml
index 258fad8b00..47a11ccb70 100644
--- a/sdk-autogen/pom.xml
+++ b/sdk-autogen/pom.xml
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
   <properties>
     <protobuf.output.directory>${project.build.directory}/generated-sources</protobuf.output.directory>
-    <protobuf.input.directory>${project.parent.basedir}/proto</protobuf.input.directory>
+    <protobuf.input.directory>${project.build.directory}/proto</protobuf.input.directory>
     <maven.deploy.skip>false</maven.deploy.skip>
   </properties>
 
@@ -56,6 +56,41 @@
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>com.googlecode.maven-download-plugin</groupId>
+        <artifactId>download-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>1.3.0</version>
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <id>getDaprProto</id>
+            <!-- the wget goal actually binds itself to this phase by default -->
+            <phase>initialize</phase>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>wget</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <url>${dapr.proto.url}</url>
+              <outputFileName>dapr.proto</outputFileName>
+              <!-- default target location, just to demonstrate the parameter -->
+              <outputDirectory>${protobuf.input.directory}/dapr</outputDirectory>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
+          <execution>
+            <id>getDaprClientProto</id>
+            <!-- the wget goal actually binds itself to this phase by default -->
+            <phase>initialize</phase>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>wget</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <url>${dapr.client.proto.url}</url>
+              <outputFileName>daprclient.proto</outputFileName>
+              <!-- default target location, just to demonstrate the parameter -->
+              <outputDirectory>${protobuf.input.directory}/daprclient</outputDirectory>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
       <plugin>
         <groupId>com.github.os72</groupId>
         <artifactId>protoc-jar-maven-plugin</artifactId>