--- a/libinterp/corefcn/module.mk
+++ b/libinterp/corefcn/module.mk
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@
   $(HDF5_CPPFLAGS) \
   $(LLVM_CPPFLAGS) \
   $(Z_CPPFLAGS)
+libinterp_corefcn_libcorefcn_la_LIBADD = $(Z_LIBS)
 
 libinterp_corefcn_libcorefcn_la_CFLAGS = $(AM_CFLAGS) $(WARN_CFLAGS)