diff --git a/cmake/find/grpc.cmake b/cmake/find/grpc.cmake
index 216f8ae1878..52d0e042573 100644
--- a/cmake/find/grpc.cmake
+++ b/cmake/find/grpc.cmake
@@ -7,10 +7,17 @@ if (NOT ENABLE_GRPC)
     return()
 endif()
 
-option (USE_INTERNAL_GRPC_LIBRARY "Set to FALSE to use system gRPC library instead of bundled" ${NOT_UNBUNDLED})
+option (USE_INTERNAL_GRPC_LIBRARY
+        "Set to FALSE to use system gRPC library instead of bundled. (Experimental. Set to OFF on your own risk)"
+        ${NOT_UNBUNDLED})
 
 if (NOT USE_INTERNAL_GRPC_LIBRARY)
     find_package(grpc)
+    if (NOT GRPC_FOUND)
+        find_path(GRPC_INCLUDE_DIR grpcpp/grpcpp.h)
+        find_library(GRPC_LIBRARY grpc++)
+    endif ()
+
     if (GRPC_INCLUDE_DIR AND GRPC_LIBRARY)
         set (USE_GRPC ON)
     else()
diff --git a/cmake/find/protobuf.cmake b/cmake/find/protobuf.cmake
index 49d09299f27..a7769206e9f 100644
--- a/cmake/find/protobuf.cmake
+++ b/cmake/find/protobuf.cmake
@@ -20,15 +20,17 @@ endif()
 
 if(NOT USE_INTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY)
     find_package(Protobuf)
-    if (NOT Protobuf_LIBRARY OR NOT Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR)
+    if (Protobuf_LIBRARY AND Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR AND Protobuf_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE)
+        set(EXTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY_FOUND 1)
+        set(USE_PROTOBUF 1)
+    else()
         message (${RECONFIGURE_MESSAGE_LEVEL} "Can't find system protobuf")
+        set(EXTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY_FOUND 0)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-if (Protobuf_LIBRARY AND Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR)
-    set(USE_PROTOBUF 1)
-elseif(NOT MISSING_INTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY)
-    set(Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR ${ClickHouse_SOURCE_DIR}/contrib/protobuf/src)
+if (NOT EXTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY_FOUND AND NOT MISSING_INTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY)
+    set(Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR "${ClickHouse_SOURCE_DIR}/contrib/protobuf/src")
 
     set(USE_PROTOBUF 1)
     set(USE_INTERNAL_PROTOBUF_LIBRARY 1)
@@ -43,13 +45,13 @@ if(OS_FREEBSD AND SANITIZE STREQUAL "address")
     # ../contrib/protobuf/src/google/protobuf/arena_impl.h:45:10: fatal error: 'sanitizer/asan_interface.h' file not found
     # #include <sanitizer/asan_interface.h>
     if(LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS)
-        set(Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR} ${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+        set(Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR "${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR}" ${LLVM_INCLUDE_DIRS})
     else()
         message (${RECONFIGURE_MESSAGE_LEVEL} "Can't use protobuf on FreeBSD with address sanitizer without LLVM")
         set(USE_PROTOBUF 0)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-include (${ClickHouse_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/protobuf_generate_cpp.cmake)
+include ("${ClickHouse_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/protobuf_generate_cpp.cmake")
 
 message(STATUS "Using protobuf=${USE_PROTOBUF}: ${Protobuf_INCLUDE_DIR} : ${Protobuf_LIBRARY} : ${Protobuf_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE}")
diff --git a/cmake/target.cmake b/cmake/target.cmake
index 35040e48956..5646d60df5e 100644
--- a/cmake/target.cmake
+++ b/cmake/target.cmake
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ if (CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
         # FIXME: broken dependencies
         set (USE_SNAPPY OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
         set (ENABLE_PROTOBUF OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+        set (ENABLE_GRPC OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
         set (ENABLE_PARQUET OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
         set (ENABLE_ICU OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
         set (ENABLE_FASTOPS OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
@@ -26,12 +27,14 @@ if (CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
         if (ARCH_AARCH64)
             # FIXME: broken dependencies
             set (ENABLE_PROTOBUF OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+            set (ENABLE_GRPC OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
             set (ENABLE_PARQUET OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
             set (ENABLE_MYSQL OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
         endif ()
     elseif (OS_FREEBSD)
         # FIXME: broken dependencies
         set (ENABLE_PROTOBUF OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
+        set (ENABLE_GRPC OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
         set (ENABLE_EMBEDDED_COMPILER OFF CACHE INTERNAL "")
     else ()
         message (FATAL_ERROR "Trying to cross-compile to unsupported system: ${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME}!")
diff --git a/contrib/protobuf-cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/contrib/protobuf-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 3cb9053d647..683429194fc 100644
--- a/contrib/protobuf-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/contrib/protobuf-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-set(protobuf_SOURCE_DIR ${ClickHouse_SOURCE_DIR}/contrib/protobuf)
-set(protobuf_BINARY_DIR ${ClickHouse_BINARY_DIR}/contrib/protobuf)
+set(protobuf_SOURCE_DIR "${ClickHouse_SOURCE_DIR}/contrib/protobuf")
+set(protobuf_BINARY_DIR "${ClickHouse_BINARY_DIR}/contrib/protobuf")
 
 set(protobuf_WITH_ZLIB 0 CACHE INTERNAL "" FORCE) # actually will use zlib, but skip find
 set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE INTERNAL "" FORCE)
@@ -10,4 +10,4 @@ else ()
     set(protobuf_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ON CACHE INTERNAL "" FORCE)
 endif ()
 
-add_subdirectory(${protobuf_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake ${protobuf_BINARY_DIR})
+add_subdirectory("${protobuf_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake" "${protobuf_BINARY_DIR}")