diff --git a/agent/agentGrpc/agent.pb.go b/agent/agentGrpc/agent.pb.go
index cf170e81..fde0cfc4 100644
--- a/agent/agentGrpc/agent.pb.go
+++ b/agent/agentGrpc/agent.pb.go
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ type VersionReply struct {
 	sizeCache     protoimpl.SizeCache
 	unknownFields protoimpl.UnknownFields
 
-	V *string `protobuf:"bytes,1,req,name=v" json:"v,omitempty"`
+	V string `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=v,proto3" json:"v,omitempty"`
 }
 
 func (x *VersionReply) Reset() {
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ func (*VersionReply) Descriptor() ([]byte, []int) {
 }
 
 func (x *VersionReply) GetV() string {
-	if x != nil && x.V != nil {
-		return *x.V
+	if x != nil {
+		return x.V
 	}
 	return ""
 }
@@ -112,13 +112,14 @@ var file_agent_agentGrpc_agent_proto_rawDesc = []byte{
 	0x63, 0x2f, 0x61, 0x67, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x74, 0x2e, 0x70, 0x72, 0x6f, 0x74, 0x6f, 0x22, 0x10, 0x0a,
 	0x0e, 0x56, 0x65, 0x72, 0x73, 0x69, 0x6f, 0x6e, 0x52, 0x65, 0x71, 0x75, 0x65, 0x73, 0x74, 0x22,
 	0x1c, 0x0a, 0x0c, 0x56, 0x65, 0x72, 0x73, 0x69, 0x6f, 0x6e, 0x52, 0x65, 0x70, 0x6c, 0x79, 0x12,
-	0x0c, 0x0a, 0x01, 0x76, 0x18, 0x01, 0x20, 0x02, 0x28, 0x09, 0x52, 0x01, 0x76, 0x32, 0x34, 0x0a,
+	0x0c, 0x0a, 0x01, 0x76, 0x18, 0x01, 0x20, 0x01, 0x28, 0x09, 0x52, 0x01, 0x76, 0x32, 0x34, 0x0a,
 	0x05, 0x41, 0x67, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x74, 0x12, 0x2b, 0x0a, 0x07, 0x56, 0x65, 0x72, 0x73, 0x69, 0x6f,
 	0x6e, 0x12, 0x0f, 0x2e, 0x56, 0x65, 0x72, 0x73, 0x69, 0x6f, 0x6e, 0x52, 0x65, 0x71, 0x75, 0x65,
 	0x73, 0x74, 0x1a, 0x0d, 0x2e, 0x56, 0x65, 0x72, 0x73, 0x69, 0x6f, 0x6e, 0x52, 0x65, 0x70, 0x6c,
 	0x79, 0x22, 0x00, 0x42, 0x2a, 0x5a, 0x28, 0x67, 0x69, 0x74, 0x68, 0x75, 0x62, 0x2e, 0x63, 0x6f,
 	0x6d, 0x2f, 0x6f, 0x70, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x7a, 0x69, 0x74, 0x69, 0x2f, 0x7a, 0x72, 0x6f, 0x6b, 0x2f,
-	0x61, 0x67, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x74, 0x2f, 0x61, 0x67, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x74, 0x47, 0x72, 0x70, 0x63,
+	0x61, 0x67, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x74, 0x2f, 0x61, 0x67, 0x65, 0x6e, 0x74, 0x47, 0x72, 0x70, 0x63, 0x62,
+	0x06, 0x70, 0x72, 0x6f, 0x74, 0x6f, 0x33,
 }
 
 var (
diff --git a/agent/agentGrpc/agent.proto b/agent/agentGrpc/agent.proto
index e9add796..172bafc9 100644
--- a/agent/agentGrpc/agent.proto
+++ b/agent/agentGrpc/agent.proto
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
 option go_package = "github.com/openziti/zrok/agent/agentGrpc";
 
 service Agent {
@@ -8,5 +10,5 @@ message VersionRequest {
 }
 
 message VersionReply {
-	required string v = 1;
+	string v = 1;
 }
diff --git a/agent/grpcImpl.go b/agent/grpcImpl.go
index e0c31083..ba7ff568 100644
--- a/agent/grpcImpl.go
+++ b/agent/grpcImpl.go
@@ -14,5 +14,5 @@ type agentGrpcImpl struct {
 func (s *agentGrpcImpl) Version(_ context.Context, _ *agentGrpc.VersionRequest) (*agentGrpc.VersionReply, error) {
 	v := build.String()
 	logrus.Infof("responding to version inquiry with '%v'", v)
-	return &agentGrpc.VersionReply{V: &v}, nil
+	return &agentGrpc.VersionReply{V: v}, nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/zrok/agentVersion.go b/cmd/zrok/agentVersion.go
index 51502485..ca2c9653 100644
--- a/cmd/zrok/agentVersion.go
+++ b/cmd/zrok/agentVersion.go
@@ -61,5 +61,5 @@ func (cmd *agentVersionCommand) run(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
 		tui.Error("error getting agent version", err)
 	}
 
-	println(*v.V)
+	println(v.GetV())
 }