diff --git a/package/civetweb/civetweb.mk b/package/civetweb/civetweb.mk
index 99da1b6f06..f05b29f3cd 100644
--- a/package/civetweb/civetweb.mk
+++ b/package/civetweb/civetweb.mk
@@ -38,6 +38,12 @@ else
 CIVETWEB_COPT += -DNO_SSL
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB),y)
+CIVETWEB_CONF_OPTS += WITH_ZLIB=1
+CIVETWEB_LIBS += -lz
+CIVETWEB_DEPENDENCIES += zlib
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_CIVETWEB_SERVER),y)
 CIVETWEB_BUILD_TARGETS += build
 CIVETWEB_INSTALL_TARGETS += install