diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a6ede33..b2a10ee 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,42 +3,66 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 # Set extension name here
 set(TARGET_NAME http_client)
 
-# DuckDB's extension distribution supports vcpkg. As such, dependencies can be added in ./vcpkg.json and then
-# used in cmake with find_package. Feel free to remove or replace with other dependencies.
-# Note that it should also be removed from vcpkg.json to prevent needlessly installing it..
+# Make ZLIB support optional with default ON for desktop platforms and OFF for WASM
+if(EMSCRIPTEN)
+    option(USE_ZLIB "Enable ZLIB compression support" OFF)
+else()
+    option(USE_ZLIB "Enable ZLIB compression support" ON)
+endif()
+
+# Find OpenSSL before building extensions
 find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
 
 set(EXTENSION_NAME ${TARGET_NAME}_extension)
 set(LOADABLE_EXTENSION_NAME ${TARGET_NAME}_loadable_extension)
 
 project(${TARGET_NAME})
+
 include_directories(src/include duckdb/third_party/httplib)
 
 set(EXTENSION_SOURCES src/http_client_extension.cpp)
 
 if(MINGW)
-  set(OPENSSL_USE_STATIC_LIBS TRUE)
+    set(OPENSSL_USE_STATIC_LIBS TRUE)
 endif()
 
-# Find OpenSSL before building extensions
-find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
+# Common libraries needed for both targets
+set(COMMON_LIBS 
+    duckdb_mbedtls 
+    ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES}
+)
 
+# Handle ZLIB support
+if(USE_ZLIB)
+    find_package(ZLIB)
+    if(ZLIB_FOUND)
+        add_compile_definitions(CPPHTTPLIB_ZLIB_SUPPORT)
+        list(APPEND COMMON_LIBS ZLIB::ZLIB)
+        message(STATUS "Building with ZLIB support")
+    else()
+        message(STATUS "ZLIB not found, building without ZLIB support")
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+# Windows-specific libraries
+if(MINGW)
+    set(WIN_LIBS crypt32 ws2_32 wsock32)
+    list(APPEND COMMON_LIBS ${WIN_LIBS})
+endif()
+
+# Build extensions
 build_static_extension(${TARGET_NAME} ${EXTENSION_SOURCES})
 build_loadable_extension(${TARGET_NAME} " " ${EXTENSION_SOURCES})
 
+# Include directories
 include_directories(${OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR})
-target_link_libraries(${LOADABLE_EXTENSION_NAME} duckdb_mbedtls ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES})
-target_link_libraries(${EXTENSION_NAME} duckdb_mbedtls ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES})
 
-if(MINGW)
-  set(WIN_LIBS crypt32 ws2_32 wsock32)
-  find_package(ZLIB)
-  target_link_libraries(${LOADABLE_EXTENSION_NAME} ZLIB::ZLIB ${WIN_LIBS})
-  target_link_libraries(${EXTENSION_NAME} ZLIB::ZLIB ${WIN_LIBS})
-endif()
+# Link libraries
+target_link_libraries(${LOADABLE_EXTENSION_NAME} ${COMMON_LIBS})
+target_link_libraries(${EXTENSION_NAME} ${COMMON_LIBS})
 
 install(
-  TARGETS ${EXTENSION_NAME}
-  EXPORT "${DUCKDB_EXPORT_SET}"
-  LIBRARY DESTINATION "${INSTALL_LIB_DIR}"
-  ARCHIVE DESTINATION "${INSTALL_LIB_DIR}")
+    TARGETS ${EXTENSION_NAME}
+    EXPORT "${DUCKDB_EXPORT_SET}"
+    LIBRARY DESTINATION "${INSTALL_LIB_DIR}"
+    ARCHIVE DESTINATION "${INSTALL_LIB_DIR}")
diff --git a/src/http_client_extension.cpp b/src/http_client_extension.cpp
index dee7518..1ddb68a 100644
--- a/src/http_client_extension.cpp
+++ b/src/http_client_extension.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
 #include "duckdb/common/exception/http_exception.hpp"
 #include <duckdb/parser/parsed_data/create_scalar_function_info.hpp>
 
+#ifdef USE_ZLIB
+#define CPPHTTPLIB_ZLIB_SUPPORT
+#endif
+
 #define CPPHTTPLIB_OPENSSL_SUPPORT
 #include "httplib.hpp"