diff --git a/package/libvips/libvips.mk b/package/libvips/libvips.mk
index 0449751380..5f95fc7f1d 100644
--- a/package/libvips/libvips.mk
+++ b/package/libvips/libvips.mk
@@ -94,4 +94,11 @@ else
 LIBVIPS_CONF_OPTS += --without-libexif
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB),y)
+LIBVIPS_CONF_OPTS += --with-zlib
+LIBVIPS_DEPENDENCIES += zlib
+else
+LIBVIPS_CONF_OPTS += --without-zlib
+endif
+
 $(eval $(autotools-package))