diff --git a/src/mono/cmake/configure.cmake b/src/mono/cmake/configure.cmake
index b3d3f47c894e0b..d27fc5201202a1 100644
--- a/src/mono/cmake/configure.cmake
+++ b/src/mono/cmake/configure.cmake
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ include(CheckTypeSize)
 include(CheckStructHasMember)
 include(CheckSymbolExists)
 include(CheckCCompilerFlag)
+include(CheckCSourceCompiles)
 
 # Apple platforms like macOS/iOS allow targeting older operating system versions with a single SDK,
 # the mere presence of a symbol in the SDK doesn't tell us whether the deployment target really supports it.
@@ -79,6 +80,21 @@ ac_check_funcs (
   gethrtime read_real_time gethostbyname gethostbyname2 getnameinfo getifaddrs
   access inet_ntop Qp2getifaddrs)
 
+check_c_source_compiles(
+  "
+  #include <zlib.h>
+  int main(void)
+  {
+    #if defined(ZLIB_VERNUM) && (ZLIB_VERNUM >= 0x1230)
+    #else
+    #error No good zlib found
+    #endif
+    return 0;
+  }
+  "
+  HAVE_SYS_ZLIB)
+
+
 if(NOT HOST_DARWIN)
   # getentropy was introduced in macOS 10.12 / iOS 10.0
   ac_check_funcs (getentropy)
diff --git a/src/mono/cmake/defines-todo.cmake b/src/mono/cmake/defines-todo.cmake
index 55c5b6f85bb625..5f48e9d70b4fd3 100644
--- a/src/mono/cmake/defines-todo.cmake
+++ b/src/mono/cmake/defines-todo.cmake
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 #option (NEED_LINK_UNLINK "Define if Unix sockets cannot be created in an anonymous namespace")
 #option (HAVE_CLASSIC_WINAPI_SUPPORT "Use classic Windows API support")
 #option (HAVE_UWP_WINAPI_SUPPORT "Don't use UWP Windows API support")
-#option (HAVE_SYS_ZLIB "Use OS-provided zlib")
 #option (MONO_XEN_OPT "Xen-specific behaviour")
 #option (MONO_SMALL_CONFIG "Reduce runtime requirements (and capabilities)")
 #option (AC_APPLE_UNIVERSAL_BUILD "Define if building universal (internal helper macro)")
diff --git a/src/mono/mono/mini/CMakeLists.txt b/src/mono/mono/mini/CMakeLists.txt
index f4deeadb0ccbf7..54a5e44096a111 100644
--- a/src/mono/mono/mini/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/mono/mono/mini/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -44,8 +44,10 @@ include(../eglib/CMakeLists.txt)
 include(../utils/CMakeLists.txt)
 include(../metadata/CMakeLists.txt)
 include(../sgen/CMakeLists.txt)
-if(INTERNAL_ZLIB)  # TODO: hook up HAVE_SYS_ZLIB instead
+if(INTERNAL_ZLIB)
   include(../zlib/CMakeLists.txt)
+elseif(HAVE_SYS_ZLIB)
+  set(Z_LIBS z)
 endif()
 include(../component/CMakeLists.txt)
 
@@ -354,7 +356,7 @@ if(NOT DISABLE_SHARED_LIBS)
     # to avoid a conflict we rename the import library with the .import.lib suffix
     set_target_properties(monosgen-shared PROPERTIES IMPORT_SUFFIX ".import.lib")
   endif()
-  target_link_libraries(monosgen-shared PRIVATE ${OS_LIBS} ${ICONV_LIB} ${LLVM_LIBS} ${ICU_LIBS})
+  target_link_libraries(monosgen-shared PRIVATE ${OS_LIBS} ${ICONV_LIB} ${LLVM_LIBS} ${ICU_LIBS} ${Z_LIBS})
   if(ICU_LDFLAGS)
     set_property(TARGET monosgen-shared APPEND_STRING PROPERTY LINK_FLAGS " ${ICU_LDFLAGS}")
   endif()
@@ -404,7 +406,7 @@ if(NOT DISABLE_SHARED_LIBS)
         add_library(${frameworkconfig} SHARED $<TARGET_OBJECTS:monosgen-objects>)
         target_compile_definitions(${frameworkconfig} PRIVATE -DMONO_DLL_EXPORT)
         target_sources(${frameworkconfig} PRIVATE $<TARGET_OBJECTS:eglib_objects>)
-        target_link_libraries(${frameworkconfig} PRIVATE ${OS_LIBS} ${ICONV_LIB} ${LLVM_LIBS} ${ICU_LIBS})
+        target_link_libraries(${frameworkconfig} PRIVATE ${OS_LIBS} ${ICONV_LIB} ${LLVM_LIBS} ${ICU_LIBS} ${Z_LIBS})
         if(ICU_LDFLAGS)
           set_property(TARGET ${frameworkconfig} APPEND_STRING PROPERTY LINK_FLAGS " ${ICU_LDFLAGS}")
         endif()
@@ -478,7 +480,7 @@ if(NOT DISABLE_EXECUTABLES)
   if(MONO_CROSS_COMPILE_EXECUTABLE_NAME)
     set_target_properties(mono-sgen PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME mono-aot-cross)
   endif()
-  target_link_libraries(mono-sgen PRIVATE monosgen-static ${OS_LIBS} ${ICONV_LIB} ${LLVM_LIBS} ${ICU_LIBS})
+  target_link_libraries(mono-sgen PRIVATE monosgen-static ${OS_LIBS} ${ICONV_LIB} ${LLVM_LIBS} ${ICU_LIBS} ${Z_LIBS})
   if(NOT DISABLE_COMPONENTS AND STATIC_COMPONENTS AND NOT DISABLE_LINK_STATIC_COMPONENTS)
     # if components are built statically, link them into runtime.
     target_sources(mono-sgen PRIVATE "${mono-components-objects}")
diff --git a/src/mono/mono/profiler/CMakeLists.txt b/src/mono/mono/profiler/CMakeLists.txt
index 784ceb0203d3d4..2b06ab374feb45 100644
--- a/src/mono/mono/profiler/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/mono/mono/profiler/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@ if(NOT DISABLE_LIBS)
     add_library(mono-profiler-log-static STATIC helper.c log.c log-args.c)
     set_target_properties(mono-profiler-log-static PROPERTIES OUTPUT_NAME mono-profiler-log)
     install(TARGETS mono-profiler-log-static LIBRARY)
+
+    if(HAVE_SYS_ZLIB)
+      target_link_libraries(mono-profiler-log z)
+    endif()
   endif()
 
   add_library(mono-profiler-aot-static STATIC aot.c helper.c)