diff --git a/Makefile.in b/Makefile.in
index a5c292bda..e39d62ec1 100644
--- a/Makefile.in
+++ b/Makefile.in
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ CFLAGS_NOPIE=@CFLAGS_NOPIE@
 CPPFLAGS=-I. -I$(srcdir) @CPPFLAGS@ $(PATHS) @DEFS@
 PICFLAG=@PICFLAG@
 LIBS=@LIBS@
+CHANNELLIBS=@CHANNELLIBS@
 K5LIBS=@K5LIBS@
 GSSLIBS=@GSSLIBS@
 SSHDLIBS=@SSHDLIBS@
@@ -208,10 +209,10 @@ libssh.a: $(LIBSSH_OBJS)
 	$(RANLIB) $@
 
 ssh$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SSHOBJS)
-	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHOBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS) $(GSSLIBS)
+	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHOBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS) $(GSSLIBS) $(CHANNELLIBS)
 
 sshd$(EXEEXT): libssh.a	$(LIBCOMPAT) $(SSHDOBJS)
-	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHDOBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(SSHDLIBS) $(LIBS) $(GSSLIBS) $(K5LIBS)
+	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHDOBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(SSHDLIBS) $(LIBS) $(GSSLIBS) $(K5LIBS) $(CHANNELLIBS)
 
 scp$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SCP_OBJS)
 	$(LD) -o $@ $(SCP_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS)
@@ -226,16 +227,16 @@ ssh-keygen$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SSHKEYGEN_OBJS)
 	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHKEYGEN_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS)
 
 ssh-keysign$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SSHKEYSIGN_OBJS)
-	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHKEYSIGN_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS)
+	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHKEYSIGN_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS) $(CHANNELLIBS)
 
 ssh-pkcs11-helper$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(P11HELPER_OBJS)
 	$(LD) -o $@ $(P11HELPER_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS)
 
 ssh-sk-helper$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SKHELPER_OBJS)
-	$(LD) -o $@ $(SKHELPER_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS) $(LIBFIDO2)
+	$(LD) -o $@ $(SKHELPER_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat -lssh -lopenbsd-compat $(LIBS) $(LIBFIDO2) $(CHANNELLIBS)
 
 ssh-keyscan$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SSHKEYSCAN_OBJS)
-	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHKEYSCAN_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat -lssh $(LIBS)
+	$(LD) -o $@ $(SSHKEYSCAN_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat -lssh $(LIBS) $(CHANNELLIBS)
 
 sftp-server$(EXEEXT): $(LIBCOMPAT) libssh.a $(SFTPSERVER_OBJS)
 	$(LD) -o $@ $(SFTPSERVER_OBJS) $(LDFLAGS) -lssh -lopenbsd-compat -lssh $(LIBS)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 922195e1b..6fa9bdc6d 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1388,18 +1388,21 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([zlib],
 	fi ]
 )
 
+# These libraries are needed for anything that links in the channel code.
+CHANNELLIBS=""
 AC_MSG_CHECKING([for zlib])
 if test "x${zlib}" = "xno"; then
 	AC_MSG_RESULT([no])
 else
-	AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
-	AC_DEFINE([WITH_ZLIB], [1], [Enable zlib])
+    saved_LIBS="$LIBS"
+    CHANNELLIBS="$CHANNELLIBS -lz"
+    AC_MSG_RESULT([yes])
+    AC_DEFINE([WITH_ZLIB], [1], [Enable zlib])
     AC_CHECK_HEADER([zlib.h], ,[AC_MSG_ERROR([*** zlib.h missing - please install first or check config.log ***])])
-    AC_CHECK_LIB([z], [deflate], ,
+    AC_CHECK_LIB([z], [deflate], [],
 	[
 		saved_CPPFLAGS="$CPPFLAGS"
 		saved_LDFLAGS="$LDFLAGS"
-		save_LIBS="$LIBS"
 		dnl Check default zlib install dir
 		if test -n "${rpath_opt}"; then
 			LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/lib ${rpath_opt}/usr/local/lib ${saved_LDFLAGS}"
@@ -1407,7 +1410,6 @@ else
 			LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/lib ${saved_LDFLAGS}"
 		fi
 		CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/include ${saved_CPPFLAGS}"
-		LIBS="$LIBS -lz"
 		AC_TRY_LINK_FUNC([deflate], [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_LIBZ])],
 			[
 				AC_MSG_ERROR([*** zlib missing - please install first or check config.log ***])
@@ -1464,6 +1466,7 @@ See http://www.gzip.org/zlib/ for details.])
 	],
 	[	AC_MSG_WARN([cross compiling: not checking zlib version]) ]
     )
+    LIBS="$saved_LIBS"
 fi
 
 dnl UnixWare 2.x
@@ -4778,6 +4781,7 @@ AC_ARG_WITH([kerberos5],
 )
 AC_SUBST([GSSLIBS])
 AC_SUBST([K5LIBS])
+AC_SUBST([CHANNELLIBS])
 
 # Looking for programs, paths and files