diff --git a/src/coreclr/nativeaot/BuildIntegration/Microsoft.NETCore.Native.Unix.targets b/src/coreclr/nativeaot/BuildIntegration/Microsoft.NETCore.Native.Unix.targets
index 3ff044e94d9d2a..0783ab21a46c05 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/nativeaot/BuildIntegration/Microsoft.NETCore.Native.Unix.targets
+++ b/src/coreclr/nativeaot/BuildIntegration/Microsoft.NETCore.Native.Unix.targets
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
     <LinkerFlavor Condition="'$(LinkerFlavor)' == '' and '$(_linuxLibcFlavor)' == 'bionic'">lld</LinkerFlavor>
     <LinkerFlavor Condition="'$(LinkerFlavor)' == '' and '$(_targetOS)' == 'linux'">bfd</LinkerFlavor>
     <IlcDefaultStackSize Condition="'$(IlcDefaultStackSize)' == '' and '$(_linuxLibcFlavor)' == 'musl'">1572864</IlcDefaultStackSize>
-    <UseSystemZlib Condition="!Exists('$(IlcSdkPath)libz.a')">true</UseSystemZlib>
+    <UseSystemZlib Condition="'$(UseSystemZlib)' == '' and !Exists('$(IlcFrameworkNativePath)libz.a')">true</UseSystemZlib>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <Target Name="SetupOSSpecificProps" DependsOnTargets="$(IlcDynamicBuildPropertyDependencies)">
@@ -130,13 +130,13 @@ The .NET Foundation licenses this file to you under the MIT license.
       <NativeLibrary Condition="'$(_targetArchitecture)' == 'x64'" Include="$(IlcSdkPath)$(VxSortSupportName)$(LibFileExt)" />
       <NativeLibrary Include="$(IlcSdkPath)$(StandaloneGCSupportName)$(LibFileExt)" />
       <NativeLibrary Condition="'$(LinkStandardCPlusPlusLibrary)' != 'true' and '$(StaticICULinking)' != 'true'" Include="$(IlcSdkPath)libstdc++compat.a" />
-      <NativeLibrary Condition="'$(UseSystemZlib)' != 'true'" Include="$(IlcSdkPath)libz.a" />
     </ItemGroup>
 
     <ItemGroup>
       <NetCoreAppNativeLibrary Include="System.Native" />
       <NetCoreAppNativeLibrary Include="System.Globalization.Native" Condition="'$(StaticICULinking)' != 'true' and '$(InvariantGlobalization)' != 'true'" />
       <NetCoreAppNativeLibrary Include="System.IO.Compression.Native" />
+      <NetCoreAppNativeLibrary Include="z" Condition="'$(UseSystemZlib)' != 'true'" /> <!-- zlib must be added after System.IO.Compression.Native, order matters. -->
       <NetCoreAppNativeLibrary Include="System.Net.Security.Native" Condition="!$(_targetOS.StartsWith('tvos')) and '$(_linuxLibcFlavor)' != 'bionic'" />
       <NetCoreAppNativeLibrary Include="System.Security.Cryptography.Native.Apple" Condition="'$(_IsApplePlatform)' == 'true'" />
       <!-- Not compliant for iOS-like platforms -->
diff --git a/src/native/libs/System.IO.Compression.Native/CMakeLists.txt b/src/native/libs/System.IO.Compression.Native/CMakeLists.txt
index 69d333ae53f9c5..7fa92062d8e5b0 100644
--- a/src/native/libs/System.IO.Compression.Native/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/native/libs/System.IO.Compression.Native/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -184,7 +184,12 @@ else ()
 endif ()
 
 if((NOT CLR_CMAKE_USE_SYSTEM_ZLIB) AND STATIC_LIBS_ONLY)
-    install_static_library(zlib aotsdk nativeaot)
+    if (CLR_CMAKE_TARGET_UNIX)
+        # zlib on Unix needs to be installed in the same location as System.IO.Compression.Native so that we can then treat is as a 'z' native library.
+        install_static_library(zlib ${STATIC_LIB_DESTINATION} nativeaot)
+    else()
+        install_static_library(zlib aotsdk nativeaot)
+    endif()
 endif()
 
 install (TARGETS System.IO.Compression.Native-Static DESTINATION ${STATIC_LIB_DESTINATION} COMPONENT libs)