diff --git a/karapace/protobuf/schema.py b/karapace/protobuf/schema.py
index a0d91b1cb..576db1182 100644
--- a/karapace/protobuf/schema.py
+++ b/karapace/protobuf/schema.py
@@ -169,7 +169,12 @@ def _process_nested_type(
                 one_of_parent_name = parent_name + "." + element_type.name
                 process_one_of(verifier, package_name, one_of_parent_name, one_of)
             for field in element_type.fields:
-                verifier.add_used_type(parent_name, field.element_type)
+                # since we declare the subtype in the same level of the scope, it's legit
+                # use the same scoping when declare the dependent type.
+                if field.element_type in [defined_in_same_scope.name for defined_in_same_scope in element_type.nested_types]:
+                    verifier.add_used_type(parent_name + "." + element_type.name, field.element_type)
+                else:
+                    verifier.add_used_type(parent_name, field.element_type)
         for nested_type in element_type.nested_types:
             self._process_nested_type(verifier, package_name, parent_name + "." + element_type.name, nested_type)
 
diff --git a/requirements/requirements-dev.txt b/requirements/requirements-dev.txt
index 3b2822d6b..50b7be256 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements-dev.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements-dev.txt
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ multidict==6.0.4
     #   -r requirements.txt
     #   aiohttp
     #   yarl
-networkx==2.8.8
+networkx==3.1
     # via -r requirements.txt
 packaging==23.1
     # via
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.in b/requirements/requirements.in
index 65b90c0ba..25bfad6b7 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.in
+++ b/requirements/requirements.in
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ aiohttp<4
 aiokafka<1
 isodate<1
 jsonschema<5
-networkx<3
+networkx<4
 protobuf<4
 python-dateutil<3
 tenacity<9
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.txt b/requirements/requirements.txt
index 7112a7d12..273282c65 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements.txt
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ multidict==6.0.4
     # via
     #   aiohttp
     #   yarl
-networkx==2.8.8
+networkx==3.1
     # via -r requirements.in
 packaging==23.1
     # via aiokafka
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_schema_protobuf.py b/tests/integration/test_schema_protobuf.py
index 9a89a17cd..f81e03437 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_schema_protobuf.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_schema_protobuf.py
@@ -620,6 +620,24 @@ class ReferenceTestCase(BaseTestCase):
 }
 """
 
+SELF_REFERENCED_SCHEMA = """\
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package fancy.company.in.party.v1;
+message MyFirstMessage {
+  string my_fancy_string = 1;
+}
+message AnotherMessage {
+  message WowANestedMessage {
+    enum BamFancyEnum {
+      // Hei! This is a comment!
+      MY_AWESOME_FIELD = 0;
+    }
+    BamFancyEnum im_tricky_im_referring_to_the_previous_enum = 1;
+  }
+}
+"""
+
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     "testcase",
@@ -1000,6 +1018,13 @@ async def test_references(testcase: ReferenceTestCase, registry_async_client: Cl
                 assert fetch_schema_res.status_code == 200
 
 
+async def test_self_reference_schema(registry_async_client: Client) -> None:
+    body = {"schemaType": SchemaType.PROTOBUF, "schema": SELF_REFERENCED_SCHEMA}
+    res = await registry_async_client.post("subjects/self_referenced_schema_test/versions", json=body)
+
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+
+
 async def test_protobuf_error(registry_async_client: Client) -> None:
     testdata = TestCaseSchema(
         schema_type=SchemaType.PROTOBUF,