diff --git a/.github/workflows/master-build.yml b/.github/workflows/master-build.yml
index 18b867356c0..e0dd7a06268 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/master-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/master-build.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-          submodules: true
       - id: setup-java-8
         name: Setup Java 8
         uses: actions/setup-java@v1
@@ -51,7 +50,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-          submodules: true
       - id: setup-java-11
         name: Setup Java 11
         uses: actions/setup-java@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/patch-release-build.yml b/.github/workflows/patch-release-build.yml
index ea5ea1b4d54..98ac761f0e4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/patch-release-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/patch-release-build.yml
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ jobs:
         uses: actions/checkout@v2
         with:
           ref: ${{ needs.prepare-release-branch.outputs.release-branch-name }}
-          submodules: true
       - uses: actions/setup-java@v1
         with:
           java-version: 11
@@ -84,8 +83,6 @@ jobs:
       - run: git push
       - name: Checkout master
         uses: actions/checkout@v2
-        with:
-           submodules: true
       - uses: burrunan/gradle-cache-action@v1.5
         with:
           job-id: jdk11
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-build.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-build.yml
index 0e34952889f..177e4dcf508 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-build.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
-          submodules: true
       - id: setup-java-8
         name: Setup Java 8
         uses: actions/setup-java@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr-examples-build.yml b/.github/workflows/pr-examples-build.yml
index 1712be68cc3..eff7744f31a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr-examples-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-examples-build.yml
@@ -21,8 +21,6 @@ jobs:
             coverage: true
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-        with:
-          submodules: true
       - id: setup-java-8
         name: Setup Java 8
         uses: actions/setup-java@v1
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-build.yml b/.github/workflows/release-build.yml
index 362fb7e9dc3..bc2060a5ecd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-build.yml
@@ -13,8 +13,6 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v2
-        with:
-          submodules: true
       - uses: actions/setup-java@v1
         with:
           java-version: 11
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index bf5cae3ad33..00000000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "proto/src/main/proto"]
-	path = proto/src/main/proto
-	url = https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto.git
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 4c5be0e0034..16411eb8061 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -28,14 +28,9 @@ types of static analysis.
 The tests that require docker are disabled if docker is not present. If you wish to run them,
 you must run a local docker daemon.
 
-2. Clone the repository recursively
+2. Clone the repository
 
-    `git clone https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java.git --recursive`
-
-or alternatively initialize submodules for an existing clone.
-
-   `git submodule init`
-   `git submodule update`   
+    `git clone https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java.git`
 
 3. Run the following commands to build, run tests and most static analysis, and
 check formatting:
@@ -116,3 +111,14 @@ It does not support all required rules, so you still have to run `spotlessApply`
 ### Unit Tests
 
 * Unit tests target Java 8, so language features such as lambda and streams can be used in tests.
+
+## Common tasks
+
+### Updating OTLP proto dependency version
+
+The OTLP proto dependency version is defined [here](proto/build.gradle). To bump the version,
+
+1. Find the latest release version [here](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/releases/latest)
+2. Download the zip source code archive
+3. Run `shasum -a 256 ~/path/to/downloaded.zip` to compute its checksum
+4. Update `protoVersion` and `protoChecksum` in the build file with the new version and checksum
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/proto/build.gradle b/proto/build.gradle
index 279de9534d1..d842390b8c1 100644
--- a/proto/build.gradle
+++ b/proto/build.gradle
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ plugins {
     id "maven-publish"
 
     id "com.google.protobuf"
+    id "de.undercouch.download"
     id "ru.vyarus.animalsniffer"
 }
 
@@ -43,6 +44,44 @@ protobuf {
     }
 }
 
+def protoVersion = "0.6.0"
+// To generate checksum, download the file and run "shasum -a 256 ~/path/to/vfoo.zip"
+def protoChecksum = "a40003d50a565c989283d6b5b93b6189c28378387b715bdd54bf4600bb9c17c1"
+def protoArchivePath = "$buildDir/archives/opentelemetry-proto-${protoVersion}.zip"
+
+def downloadProtoArchive = tasks.register("downloadProtoArchive", Download) {
+    onlyIf { !file(protoArchivePath).exists() }
+    src "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-proto/archive/v${protoVersion}.zip"
+    dest protoArchivePath
+}
+
+def verifyProtoArchive = tasks.register("verifyProtoArchive", Verify) {
+    dependsOn(downloadProtoArchive)
+    src protoArchivePath
+    algorithm "SHA-256"
+    checksum protoChecksum
+}
+
+def unzipProtoArchive = tasks.register("unzipProtoArchive", Copy) {
+    dependsOn(verifyProtoArchive)
+    from zipTree(protoArchivePath)
+    into "$buildDir/protos"
+}
+
+sourceSets {
+    main {
+        proto {
+            srcDir "$buildDir/protos/opentelemetry-proto-${protoVersion}"
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+afterEvaluate {
+    tasks.named("generateProto") {
+        dependsOn(unzipProtoArchive)
+    }
+}
+
 // IntelliJ complains that the generated classes are not found, ask IntelliJ to include the
 // generated Java directories as source folders.
 idea {
diff --git a/proto/src/main/proto b/proto/src/main/proto
deleted file mode 160000
index 59c488bfb8f..00000000000
--- a/proto/src/main/proto
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 59c488bfb8fb6d0458ad6425758b70259ff4a2bd
diff --git a/settings.gradle b/settings.gradle
index d0f6212d81c..496238b5abd 100644
--- a/settings.gradle
+++ b/settings.gradle
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ pluginManagement {
         id "com.google.protobuf" version "0.8.14"
         id "com.jfrog.artifactory" version "4.18.0"
         id "com.jfrog.bintray" version "1.8.5"
+        id "de.undercouch.download" version "4.1.1"
         id "io.morethan.jmhreport" version "0.9.0"
         id "me.champeau.gradle.jmh" version "0.5.2"
         id "nebula.release" version "15.3.0"