diff --git a/package/erlang/Config.in b/package/erlang/Config.in
index bf745555e8..00e8ab14d7 100644
--- a/package/erlang/Config.in
+++ b/package/erlang/Config.in
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_ERLANG
 	depends on BR2_USE_MMU # fork()
 	depends on !BR2_STATIC_LIBS
 	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_ERLANG_ARCH_SUPPORTS
+	select BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB
 	help
 	  Erlang is a programming language used to build massively
 	  scalable soft real-time systems with requirements on high
diff --git a/package/erlang/erlang.mk b/package/erlang/erlang.mk
index b7fdb6b9ce..a7d7168082 100644
--- a/package/erlang/erlang.mk
+++ b/package/erlang/erlang.mk
@@ -69,10 +69,9 @@ else
 ERLANG_CONF_OPTS += --without-odbc
 endif
 
-ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB),y)
+# Always use Buildroot's zlib
 ERLANG_CONF_OPTS += --enable-shared-zlib
 ERLANG_DEPENDENCIES += zlib
-endif
 
 # Remove source, example, gs and wx files from staging and target.
 ERLANG_REMOVE_PACKAGES = gs wx