diff --git a/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_library.bzl b/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_library.bzl
index 00245fb8bdb464..8f667f6d059937 100644
--- a/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_library.bzl
+++ b/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_library.bzl
@@ -296,4 +296,5 @@ proto_library = rule(
     fragments = ["proto"] + semantics.EXTRA_FRAGMENTS,
     provides = [ProtoInfo],
     output_to_genfiles = True,  # TODO(b/204266604) move to bin dir
+    exec_groups = semantics.EXEC_GROUPS,
 )
diff --git a/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_semantics.bzl b/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_semantics.bzl
index 8634dd6dcb7963..806484baa03ab5 100644
--- a/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_semantics.bzl
+++ b/src/main/starlark/builtins_bzl/common/proto/proto_semantics.bzl
@@ -36,4 +36,5 @@ semantics = struct(
         "--direct_dependencies_violation_msg=" +
         "%%s is imported, but %s doesn't directly depend on a proto_library that 'srcs' it."
     ),
+    EXEC_GROUPS = {},
 )