diff --git a/package/mbedtls/mbedtls.mk b/package/mbedtls/mbedtls.mk
index a8bd61f129..7171af9f98 100644
--- a/package/mbedtls/mbedtls.mk
+++ b/package/mbedtls/mbedtls.mk
@@ -42,6 +42,11 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB),y)
 MBEDTLS_CONF_OPTS += -DENABLE_ZLIB_SUPPORT=ON
 MBEDTLS_DEPENDENCIES += zlib
+define MBEDTLS_ENABLE_ZLIB
+	$(SED) "s://#define MBEDTLS_ZLIB_SUPPORT:#define MBEDTLS_ZLIB_SUPPORT:" \
+		$(@D)/include/mbedtls/config.h
+endef
+MBEDTLS_POST_PATCH_HOOKS += MBEDTLS_ENABLE_ZLIB
 else
 MBEDTLS_CONF_OPTS += -DENABLE_ZLIB_SUPPORT=OFF
 endif