diff --git a/grpc.gemspec b/grpc.gemspec
index 088b99b1e66..724922ea460 100755
--- a/grpc.gemspec
+++ b/grpc.gemspec
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.require_paths = %w( src/ruby/bin src/ruby/lib src/ruby/pb )
   s.platform      = Gem::Platform::RUBY
 
-  s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.0.2'
+  s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.1.0'
   s.add_dependency 'googleauth',      '~> 0.5.1'
 
   s.add_development_dependency 'bundler',            '~> 1.9'
diff --git a/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c b/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c
index 61b7c30315d..28c6a0fd3a8 100644
--- a/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c
+++ b/src/ruby/ext/grpc/rb_byte_buffer.c
@@ -65,5 +65,6 @@ VALUE grpc_rb_byte_buffer_to_s(grpc_byte_buffer *buffer) {
                GPR_SLICE_LENGTH(next));
     gpr_slice_unref(next);
   }
+  grpc_byte_buffer_reader_destroy(&reader);
   return rb_string;
 }
diff --git a/templates/grpc.gemspec.template b/templates/grpc.gemspec.template
index 62d61b75c1d..82fbb690088 100644
--- a/templates/grpc.gemspec.template
+++ b/templates/grpc.gemspec.template
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
     s.require_paths = %w( src/ruby/bin src/ruby/lib src/ruby/pb )
     s.platform      = Gem::Platform::RUBY
 
-    s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.0.2'
+    s.add_dependency 'google-protobuf', '~> 3.1.0'
     s.add_dependency 'googleauth',      '~> 0.5.1'
 
     s.add_development_dependency 'bundler',            '~> 1.9'