diff --git a/proto/mf.proto b/proto/mf.proto
index 5e42040..79f15c0 100644
--- a/proto/mf.proto
+++ b/proto/mf.proto
@@ -11,12 +11,12 @@ message MFFile {
     }
 
     // required mffile root attributes 1xx
-    required Version version = 101;
-    required bytes innerMessage = 102;
+    Version version = 101;
+    bytes innerMessage = 102;
     // these are used solely to detect corruption/truncation
     // and not for cryptographic integrity.
-    required uint64 size = 103;
-    required bytes sha256 = 104;
+    uint64 size = 103;
+    bytes sha256 = 104;
 
     // 2xx for optional manifest root attributes
     // think we might use gosignify instead of gpg:
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ message MFFile {
 
 message MFFilePath {
     // required attributes:
-    required string path = 101;
-    required uint64 size = 102;
+    string path = 101;
+    uint64 size = 102;
 
     // gotta have at least one:
     repeated MFFileChecksum hashes = 201;
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ message MFFilePath {
 message MFFileChecksum {
     // 1.0 golang implementation must write a multihash here
     // it's ok to only ever use/verify sha256 multihash
-    required bytes multiHash = 1;
+    bytes multiHash = 1;
 }
 
 message MFFileInner {
@@ -57,10 +57,10 @@ message MFFileInner {
         NONE = 0;
         ONE = 1; // only one for now
     }
-    required Version version = 101;
+    Version version = 101;
 
     // required manifest attributes:
-    required uint64 fileCount = 102; //FIXME is this necessary?
+    uint64 fileCount = 102; //FIXME is this necessary?
     repeated MFFilePath files = 103;
 
     // optional manifest attributes 2xx: