diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 02d6916d86fc..a46169b43cfb 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -582,8 +582,14 @@ else()
   add_subdirectory(Externals/zlib)
 endif()
 
-add_subdirectory(Externals/minizip)
-include_directories(External/minizip)
+pkg_check_modules(MINIZIP minizip)
+if(MINIZIP_FOUND)
+  message(STATUS "Using shared minizip")
+else()
+  message(STATUS "Shared minizip not found, falling back to the static library")
+  add_subdirectory(Externals/minizip)
+  include_directories(External/minizip)
+endif()
 
 if(NOT APPLE)
   check_lib(LZO "(no .pc for lzo2)" lzo2 lzo/lzo1x.h QUIET)