diff --git a/lib/riemann.rb b/lib/riemann.rb
index 9b00d52..1cb676e 100644
--- a/lib/riemann.rb
+++ b/lib/riemann.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Riemann
+  require 'rubygems'
+  require 'beefcake'
+  require 'timeout'
   require 'riemann/version'
   require 'riemann/state'
   require 'riemann/attribute'
diff --git a/lib/riemann/attribute.rb b/lib/riemann/attribute.rb
index eabd02e..acd4d39 100644
--- a/lib/riemann/attribute.rb
+++ b/lib/riemann/attribute.rb
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Riemann
-  class Attribute < Protobuf::Message
-    required :string, :key, 1
-    optional :string, :value, 2
+  class Attribute
+    include Beefcake::Message
+
+    required :key, :string, 1
+    optional :value, :string, 2
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/riemann/event.rb b/lib/riemann/event.rb
index 9ae7453..e735200 100644
--- a/lib/riemann/event.rb
+++ b/lib/riemann/event.rb
@@ -1,29 +1,30 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Riemann
-  class Event < Protobuf::Message
+  class Event
     require 'set'
-
-    optional :int64, :time, 1
-    optional :string, :state, 2
-    optional :string, :service, 3
-    optional :string, :host, 4
-    optional :string, :description, 5
-    repeated :string, :tags, 7
-    optional :float, :ttl, 8
-    repeated Attribute, :attributes, 9
-    optional :int64, :time_micros, 10
-
-    optional :sint64, :metric_sint64, 13
-    optional :double, :metric_d, 14
-    optional :float, :metric_f, 15
+    include Beefcake::Message
+
+    optional :time, :int64, 1
+    optional :state, :string, 2
+    optional :service, :string, 3
+    optional :host, :string, 4
+    optional :description, :string, 5
+    repeated :tags, :string, 7
+    optional :ttl, :float, 8
+    repeated :attributes, Attribute, 9
+    optional :time_micros, :int64, 10
+
+    optional :metric_sint64, :sint64, 13
+    optional :metric_d, :double, 14
+    optional :metric_f, :float, 15
 
     # Fields which don't really exist in protobufs, but which are reserved
     # and can't be used as attributes.
     VIRTUAL_FIELDS = Set.new([:metric])
     # Fields which are specially encoded in the Event protobuf--that is, they
     # can't be used as attributes.
-    RESERVED_FIELDS = fields.map do |field|
+    RESERVED_FIELDS = fields.map do |_i, field|
       field.name.to_sym
     end.reduce(VIRTUAL_FIELDS) do |set, field| # rubocop:disable Style/MultilineBlockChain
       set << field
@@ -189,10 +190,9 @@ def initialize(hash = nil)
     end
 
     def metric
-      return metric_d if field?(:metric_d)
-      return metric_sint64 if field?(:metric_sint64)
-
-      metric_f
+      metric_d ||
+        metric_sint64 ||
+        metric_f
     end
 
     def metric=(value)
diff --git a/lib/riemann/message.rb b/lib/riemann/message.rb
index 610302c..372ad08 100644
--- a/lib/riemann/message.rb
+++ b/lib/riemann/message.rb
@@ -1,12 +1,14 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Riemann
-  class Message < Protobuf::Message
-    optional :bool, :ok, 2
-    optional :string, :error, 3
-    repeated State, :states, 4
-    optional Query, :query, 5
-    repeated Event, :events, 6
+  class Message
+    include Beefcake::Message
+
+    optional :ok, :bool, 2
+    optional :error, :string, 3
+    repeated :states, State, 4
+    optional :query, Query, 5
+    repeated :events, Event, 6
 
     def encode_with_length
       encoded_string = encode.to_s
diff --git a/lib/riemann/query.rb b/lib/riemann/query.rb
index 546a43a..aaef526 100644
--- a/lib/riemann/query.rb
+++ b/lib/riemann/query.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module Riemann
-  class Query < Protobuf::Message
+  class Query
+    include Beefcake::Message
+
     optional :string, :string, 1
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/riemann/state.rb b/lib/riemann/state.rb
index 6bad8dd..948c9bb 100644
--- a/lib/riemann/state.rb
+++ b/lib/riemann/state.rb
@@ -1,18 +1,18 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
-require 'protobuf'
-
 module Riemann
-  class State < Protobuf::Message
-    optional :int64, :time, 1
-    optional :string, :state, 2
-    optional :string, :service, 3
-    optional :string, :host, 4
-    optional :string, :description, 5
-    optional :bool, :once, 6
-    repeated :string, :tags, 7
-    optional :float, :ttl, 8
-    optional :float, :metric_f, 15
+  class State
+    include Beefcake::Message
+
+    optional :time, :int64, 1
+    optional :state, :string, 2
+    optional :service, :string, 3
+    optional :host, :string, 4
+    optional :description, :string, 5
+    optional :once, :bool, 6
+    repeated :tags, :string, 7
+    optional :ttl, :float, 8
+    optional :metric_f, :float, 15
 
     def initialize
       super
diff --git a/riemann-client.gemspec b/riemann-client.gemspec
index fd089d5..5917caf 100644
--- a/riemann-client.gemspec
+++ b/riemann-client.gemspec
@@ -29,6 +29,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_development_dependency 'rubocop'
   spec.add_development_dependency 'timecop'
 
+  spec.add_dependency 'beefcake', ['>= 1.0.0 ']
   spec.add_dependency 'mtrc', '>= 0.0.4'
-  spec.add_dependency 'protobuf', '~> 3.0'
 end