diff --git a/sdk/build.gradle.kts b/sdk/build.gradle.kts
index bd93e342b..f67fd66d4 100644
--- a/sdk/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/sdk/build.gradle.kts
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 plugins {
     id("org.hiero.gradle.module.library")
-    id("org.hiero.gradle.feature.protobuf")
     id("org.hiero.gradle.feature.test-integration")
+    id("org.hiero.gradle.feature.protobuf")
     id("org.hiero.gradle.feature.publish-dependency-constraints")
 }
 
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/module-info.java b/sdk/src/main/java/module-info.java
index c8e5f171e..53eda2345 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/module-info.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/module-info.java
@@ -19,4 +19,6 @@
     exports com.hedera.hashgraph.sdk.logger;
 
     opens com.hedera.hashgraph.sdk;
+    // for reflective access e.g. by com.fasterxml.jackson.databind
+    opens com.hedera.hashgraph.sdk.proto;
 }
diff --git a/settings.gradle.kts b/settings.gradle.kts
index 12f84a509..d2e08231c 100644
--- a/settings.gradle.kts
+++ b/settings.gradle.kts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-plugins { id("org.hiero.gradle.build") version "0.3.10" }
+plugins { id("org.hiero.gradle.build") version "0.4.0" }
 
 rootProject.name = "hedera-sdk-java"