diff --git a/package/libfreefare/libfreefare.mk b/package/libfreefare/libfreefare.mk
index 8dcd6b81c9..362cab2fa6 100644
--- a/package/libfreefare/libfreefare.mk
+++ b/package/libfreefare/libfreefare.mk
@@ -8,4 +8,9 @@ LIBFREEFARE_VERSION = 0.3.4
 LIBFREEFARE_SITE = http://libfreefare.googlecode.com/files
 LIBFREEFARE_DEPENDENCIES = libnfc openssl
 
+ifeq ($(BR2_PREFER_STATIC_LIB),y)
+# openssl needs zlib even if the libfreefare example itself doesn't
+LIBFREEFARE_CONF_ENV += LIBS='-lz'
+endif
+
 $(eval $(autotools-package))