diff --git a/cmake/external/onnxruntime_external_deps.cmake b/cmake/external/onnxruntime_external_deps.cmake
index 78f63227c8392..403b4b2c4107a 100644
--- a/cmake/external/onnxruntime_external_deps.cmake
+++ b/cmake/external/onnxruntime_external_deps.cmake
@@ -108,41 +108,14 @@ FetchContent_Declare(
 )
 
 # Download a protoc binary from Internet if needed
-if(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING AND NOT ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE)
+if(NOT ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE)
   # This part of code is only for users' convenience. The code couldn't handle all cases. Users always can manually
   # download protoc from Protobuf's Github release page and pass the local path to the ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE
   # variable.
-  message("CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME: ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME}")
-  if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
-    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "AMD64")
-      FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_win64} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_win64})
-      FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
-    elseif(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86")
-      FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_win32} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_win32})
-      FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
-    endif()
-    if(protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR)
-      message("Use prebuilt protoc")
-      set(ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/protoc.exe)
-      set(PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
-    endif()
-  elseif(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
-    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^(x86_64|amd64)$")
-      FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_linux_x64} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_linux_x64})
-      FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
-    elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^(i.86|x86?)$")
-      FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_linux_x86} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_linux_x86})
-      FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
-    elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^aarch64.*")
-      FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_linux_aarch64} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_linux_aarch64})
-      FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
-    endif()
-    if(protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR)
-      message("Use prebuilt protoc")
-      set(ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/protoc)
-      set(PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
-    endif()
-  elseif ((CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Emscripten" OR CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Android" OR CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "iOS") AND CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Darwin")
+  if (CMAKE_HOST_APPLE)
+    # Using CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING is not recommended for Apple target devices.
+    # https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.26/variable/CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING.html
+    # To keep it simple, just download and use the universal protoc binary for all Apple host builds.
     FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_mac_universal} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_mac_universal})
     FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
     if(protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR)
@@ -150,6 +123,38 @@ if(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING AND NOT ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE)
       set(ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/protoc)
       set(PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
     endif()
+  elseif (CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING)
+    message("CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME: ${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME}")
+    if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
+      if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "AMD64")
+        FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_win64} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_win64})
+        FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
+      elseif(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR STREQUAL "x86")
+        FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_win32} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_win32})
+        FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
+      endif()
+      if(protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR)
+        message("Use prebuilt protoc")
+        set(ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/protoc.exe)
+        set(PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
+      endif()
+    elseif(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
+      if(CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^(x86_64|amd64)$")
+        FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_linux_x64} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_linux_x64})
+        FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
+      elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^(i.86|x86?)$")
+        FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_linux_x86} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_linux_x86})
+        FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
+      elseif(CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR MATCHES "^aarch64.*")
+        FetchContent_Declare(protoc_binary URL ${DEP_URL_protoc_linux_aarch64} URL_HASH SHA1=${DEP_SHA1_protoc_linux_aarch64})
+        FetchContent_Populate(protoc_binary)
+      endif()
+      if(protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR)
+        message("Use prebuilt protoc")
+        set(ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${protoc_binary_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/protoc)
+        set(PROTOC_EXECUTABLE ${ONNX_CUSTOM_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE})
+      endif()
+    endif()
   endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -184,9 +189,9 @@ FetchContent_Declare(
 )
 
 set(protobuf_BUILD_TESTS OFF CACHE BOOL "Build protobuf tests" FORCE)
-#TODO: we'd better to turn the following option off. However, it will cause 
+#TODO: we'd better to turn the following option off. However, it will cause
 # ".\build.bat --config Debug --parallel --skip_submodule_sync --update" fail with an error message:
-# install(EXPORT "ONNXTargets" ...) includes target "onnx_proto" which requires target "libprotobuf-lite" that is 
+# install(EXPORT "ONNXTargets" ...) includes target "onnx_proto" which requires target "libprotobuf-lite" that is
 # not in any export set.
 #set(protobuf_INSTALL OFF CACHE BOOL "Install protobuf binaries and files" FORCE)
 set(protobuf_USE_EXTERNAL_GTEST ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
@@ -562,4 +567,3 @@ endif()
 
 FILE(TO_NATIVE_PATH ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}  ORT_BINARY_DIR)
 FILE(TO_NATIVE_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}  ORT_SOURCE_DIR)
-
diff --git a/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/templates/stages/mac-ios-packaging-build-stage.yml b/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/templates/stages/mac-ios-packaging-build-stage.yml
index d1dff0769e25f..ed32c5d0e15be 100644
--- a/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/templates/stages/mac-ios-packaging-build-stage.yml
+++ b/tools/ci_build/github/azure-pipelines/templates/stages/mac-ios-packaging-build-stage.yml
@@ -78,10 +78,6 @@ stages:
         pip install -r tools/ci_build/github/apple/ios_packaging.requirements.txt
       displayName: "Install Python requirements"
 
-    - script: |
-        $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/tools/ci_build/github/linux/docker/inference/x64/python/cpu/scripts/install_protobuf.sh -p $(Build.BinariesDirectory)/protobuf_install -d $(Build.SourcesDirectory)/cmake/deps.txt
-      displayName: "Build Host Protoc"
-
     # create and test mobile pods
     - script: |
         python tools/ci_build/github/apple/build_and_assemble_apple_pods.py \
@@ -91,8 +87,7 @@ stages:
           --test \
           --variant ${{ parameters.packageVariant }} \
           --build-settings-file "${{ variables.buildSettingsFile }}" \
-          ${{ variables.optionalIncludeOpsByConfigOption }} \
-          -b="--path_to_protoc_exe=$(Build.BinariesDirectory)/protobuf_install/bin/protoc"
+          ${{ variables.optionalIncludeOpsByConfigOption }}
       displayName: "Build macOS/iOS framework and assemble pod package files"
 
     - script: |