diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index ed60f07bcee3..0ae82fe44b55 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -429,24 +429,11 @@ endif()
 # Keep compression lib detection before TLS detection, which
 # might depend on it.
 
-set(HAVE_LIBZ OFF)
-set(USE_ZLIB OFF)
-optional_dependency(ZLIB)
-if(ZLIB_FOUND)
-  set(HAVE_LIBZ ON)
-  set(USE_ZLIB ON)
-
-  # Depend on ZLIB via imported targets if supported by the running
-  # version of CMake.  This allows our dependents to get our dependencies
-  # transitively.
-  if(NOT CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.4)
-    list(APPEND CURL_LIBS ZLIB::ZLIB)
-  else()
-    list(APPEND CURL_LIBS ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
-    include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-  endif()
-  list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-endif()
+set(HAVE_LIBZ ON)
+set(USE_ZLIB ON)
+list(APPEND CURL_LIBS ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+list(APPEND CMAKE_REQUIRED_INCLUDES ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
 option(CURL_BROTLI "Set to ON to enable building curl with brotli support." OFF)
 set(HAVE_BROTLI OFF)