diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9419ac3a76..93113b6fc4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@ if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU")
 endif()
 
 find_package(Protobuf REQUIRED)
+find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
 if(Protobuf_VERSION VERSION_GREATER 4.21)
     # required by absl
     set(BRPC_CXX_STANDARD 17)
@@ -351,7 +352,7 @@ set(DYNAMIC_LIB
     ${CMAKE_THREAD_LIBS_INIT}
     ${THRIFT_LIB}
     dl
-    z)
+    ZLIB::ZLIB)
 
 if(WITH_BORINGSSL)
     list(APPEND DYNAMIC_LIB ${BORINGSSL_SSL_LIBRARY})
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 17fe2154bf..2004df52ab 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ add_dependencies(SOURCES_LIB PROTO_LIB)
 target_link_libraries(BUTIL_LIB PRIVATE brpc_common_config)
 target_link_libraries(SOURCES_LIB PRIVATE brpc_common_config)
 
+# protobuf/io/gzip_stream.h includes <zlib.h>. Prioritize the discovered
+# zlib headers over include directories inherited from parent projects.
+target_include_directories(SOURCES_LIB BEFORE PRIVATE ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+
 # shared library needs POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE
 set_property(TARGET ${SOURCES_LIB} PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE 1)
 set_property(TARGET ${BUTIL_LIB} PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE 1)