diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f23c0613a..9cbd27377 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -89,8 +89,6 @@ option(LWS_WITHOUT_TEST_CLIENT "Don't build the client test application" OFF)
 # Extensions (permessage-deflate)
 #
 option(LWS_WITHOUT_EXTENSIONS "Don't compile with extensions" ON)
-option(LWS_WITH_ZLIB "Include zlib support (required for extensions)" OFF)
-option(LWS_WITH_BUNDLED_ZLIB "Use bundled zlib version (Windows only)" ${LWS_WITH_BUNDLED_ZLIB_DEFAULT})
 #
 # Helpers + misc
 #
@@ -128,6 +126,11 @@ option(LWS_WITH_DISKCACHE "Hashed cache directory with lazy LRU deletion to size
 option(LWS_WITH_ASAN "Build with gcc runtime sanitizer options enabled (needs libasan)" OFF)
 option(LWS_WITH_DIR "Directory scanning api support" OFF)
 option(LWS_WITH_LEJP_CONF "With LEJP configuration parser as used by lwsws" OFF)
+option(LWS_WITH_ZLIB "Include zlib support (required for extensions)" OFF)
+option(LWS_WITH_BUNDLED_ZLIB "Use bundled zlib version (Windows only)" ${LWS_WITH_BUNDLED_ZLIB_DEFAULT})
+option(LWS_WITH_MINIZ "Use miniz instead of zlib" OFF)
+#
+# to use miniz, enable both LWS_WITH_ZLIB and LWS_WITH_MINIZ
 #
 # End of user settings
 #
@@ -474,8 +477,11 @@ if (NOT LWS_WITHOUT_EXTENSIONS OR LWS_WITH_ZIP_FOPS)
 	set(LWS_WITH_ZLIB 1)
 endif()
 
-set(LWS_ZLIB_LIBRARIES CACHE PATH "Path to the zlib library")
-set(LWS_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS CACHE PATH "Path to the zlib include directory")
+# if you gave LWS_WITH_MINIZ, point to MINIZ here if not found
+# automatically
+
+set(LWS_ZLIB_LIBRARIES CACHE PATH "Path to the zlib/miniz library")
+set(LWS_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS CACHE PATH "Path to the zlib/miniz include directory")
 set(LWS_OPENSSL_LIBRARIES CACHE PATH "Path to the OpenSSL library")
 set(LWS_OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIRS CACHE PATH "Path to the OpenSSL include directory")
 set(LWS_WOLFSSL_LIBRARIES CACHE PATH "Path to the wolfSSL library")
@@ -852,7 +858,11 @@ endif()
 
 
 if (LWS_WITH_ZLIB AND NOT LWS_WITH_BUNDLED_ZLIB)
-	CHECK_INCLUDE_FILE(zlib.h LWS_HAVE_ZLIB_H)
+	if (LWS_WITH_MINIZ)
+		CHECK_INCLUDE_FILE(miniz.h LWS_HAVE_ZLIB_H)
+	else()
+		CHECK_INCLUDE_FILE(zlib.h LWS_HAVE_ZLIB_H)
+	endif()
 endif()
 
 # TODO: These can also be tested to see whether they actually work...
@@ -1604,10 +1614,16 @@ if (LWS_WITH_ZLIB)
 			message(FATAL_ERROR "Don't have bundled zlib for that platform")
 		endif()
 	elseif (NOT ZLIB_FOUND)
-		find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
+		if (LWS_WITH_MINIZ)
+			find_package(Miniz REQUIRED)
+			set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS ${MINIZ_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+			set(ZLIB_LIBRARIES ${MINIZ_LIBRARIES})
+		else()
+			find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
+		endif()
 	endif()
-	message("zlib include dirs: ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
-	message("zlib libraries: ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}")
+	message("zlib/miniz include dirs: ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
+	message("zlib/miniz libraries: ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}")
 	include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 	list(APPEND LIB_LIST ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
 endif()
diff --git a/READMEs/README.build.md b/READMEs/README.build.md
index 43ed88772..17044f6ff 100644
--- a/READMEs/README.build.md
+++ b/READMEs/README.build.md
@@ -367,6 +367,21 @@ this to work.
 
 **NOTE**: On windows use the .lib file extension for `LWS_CYASSL_LIBRARIES` instead.
 
+@section gzip Selecting GZIP or MINIZ
+
+By default lws supports gzip when compression is needed.  But you can tell it to use
+MINIZ instead by using `-DLWS_WITH_MINIZ=1`.
+
+For native build cmake will try to find an existing libminiz.so or .a and build
+against that and the found includes automatically.
+
+For cross-build or building against local miniz, you need the following kind of
+cmake to tell it where to get miniz
+
+```
+cmake .. -DLWS_WITH_MINIZ=1 -DLWS_WITH_ZIP_FOPS=1 -DMINIZ_INCLUDE_DIRS="/projects/miniz;/projects/miniz/build" -DMINIZ_LIBRARIES=/projects/miniz/build/libminiz.so.2.1.0  
+```
+
 @section esp32 Building for ESP32
 
 Building for ESP32 requires the ESP-IDF framework. It can be built under Linux, OSX or Windows (MSYS2).
diff --git a/cmake/FindMiniz.cmake b/cmake/FindMiniz.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..105cee490
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/FindMiniz.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# This module tries to find miniz library and include files
+#
+# MINIZ_INCLUDE_DIR, path where to find miniz.h
+# MINIZ_LIBRARY_DIR, path where to find libminiz.so
+# MINIZ_LIBRARIES, the library to link against
+# MINIZ_FOUND, If false, do not try to use miniz
+#
+# This currently works probably only for Linux
+
+FIND_PATH ( MINIZ_INCLUDE_DIR miniz.h
+    /usr/local/include
+    /usr/include
+)
+
+FIND_LIBRARY ( MINIZ_LIBRARIES libminiz.so libminiz.a libminiz.so.2 libminiz.so.0.1
+    /usr/local/lib
+    /usr/local/lib64
+    /usr/lib
+    /usr/lib64
+)
+
+GET_FILENAME_COMPONENT( MINIZ_LIBRARY_DIR ${MINIZ_LIBRARIES} PATH )
+
+SET ( MINIZ_FOUND "NO" )
+IF ( MINIZ_INCLUDE_DIR )
+    IF ( MINIZ_LIBRARIES )
+        SET ( MINIZ_FOUND "YES" )
+    ENDIF ( MINIZ_LIBRARIES )
+ENDIF ( MINIZ_INCLUDE_DIR )
+
+MARK_AS_ADVANCED(
+    MINIZ_LIBRARY_DIR
+    MINIZ_INCLUDE_DIR
+    MINIZ_LIBRARIES
+)
diff --git a/cmake/lws_config.h.in b/cmake/lws_config.h.in
index 0e1650805..3e6c22060 100644
--- a/cmake/lws_config.h.in
+++ b/cmake/lws_config.h.in
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@
 #cmakedefine LWS_WITH_LIBUV
 #cmakedefine LWS_WITH_LWSAC
 #cmakedefine LWS_WITH_MBEDTLS
+#cmakedefine LWS_WITH_MINIZ
 #cmakedefine LWS_WITH_NETWORK
 #cmakedefine LWS_WITH_NO_LOGS
 #cmakedefine LWS_WITHOUT_CLIENT
diff --git a/lib/roles/cgi/private.h b/lib/roles/cgi/private.h
index b49f54504..53e5f7251 100644
--- a/lib/roles/cgi/private.h
+++ b/lib/roles/cgi/private.h
@@ -22,8 +22,12 @@
  */
 
 #if defined(LWS_WITH_ZLIB)
+#if defined(LWS_WITH_MINIZ)
+#include <miniz.h>
+#else
 #include <zlib.h>
 #endif
+#endif
 
 extern struct lws_role_ops role_ops_cgi;
 
diff --git a/lib/roles/http/compression/private.h b/lib/roles/http/compression/private.h
index 26aeaf348..97b5d7b0b 100644
--- a/lib/roles/http/compression/private.h
+++ b/lib/roles/http/compression/private.h
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@
  *  This is included from core/private.h if LWS_WITH_HTTP_STREAM_COMPRESSION
  */
 
+#if defined(LWS_WITH_MINIZ)
+#include <miniz.h>
+#else
 #include <zlib.h>
+#endif
 #if defined(LWS_WITH_HTTP_BROTLI)
 #include <brotli/encode.h>
 #include <brotli/decode.h>
diff --git a/lib/roles/http/server/fops-zip.c b/lib/roles/http/server/fops-zip.c
index 4db83ce62..5c1d4820e 100644
--- a/lib/roles/http/server/fops-zip.c
+++ b/lib/roles/http/server/fops-zip.c
@@ -53,7 +53,11 @@
 
 #include "core/private.h"
 
+#if defined(LWS_WITH_MINIZ)
+#include <miniz.h>
+#else
 #include <zlib.h>
+#endif
 
 /*
  * This code works with zip format containers which may have files compressed
diff --git a/lib/roles/ws/ext/extension-permessage-deflate.h b/lib/roles/ws/ext/extension-permessage-deflate.h
index 85456bacd..7c5602023 100644
--- a/lib/roles/ws/ext/extension-permessage-deflate.h
+++ b/lib/roles/ws/ext/extension-permessage-deflate.h
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 
+#if defined(LWS_WITH_MINIZ)
+#include <miniz.h>
+#else
 #include <zlib.h>
+#endif
 
 #define DEFLATE_FRAME_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_SERVER 1
 #define DEFLATE_FRAME_COMPRESSION_LEVEL_CLIENT Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION