diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f5ef350..b2a10ee 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,12 +3,15 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
 # Set extension name here
 set(TARGET_NAME http_client)
 
-# Add ZLIB definition for httplib
-add_compile_definitions(CPPHTTPLIB_ZLIB_SUPPORT)
+# 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 required packages
+# Find OpenSSL before building extensions
 find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
-find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
 
 set(EXTENSION_NAME ${TARGET_NAME}_extension)
 set(LOADABLE_EXTENSION_NAME ${TARGET_NAME}_loadable_extension)
@@ -20,35 +23,46 @@ 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()
 
-# Build extensions
-build_static_extension(${TARGET_NAME} ${EXTENSION_SOURCES})
-build_loadable_extension(${TARGET_NAME} " " ${EXTENSION_SOURCES})
-
-# Include directories
-include_directories(${OPENSSL_INCLUDE_DIR})
-
 # Common libraries needed for both targets
 set(COMMON_LIBS 
     duckdb_mbedtls 
     ${OPENSSL_LIBRARIES}
-    ZLIB::ZLIB
 )
 
+# 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})
+    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})
+
 # 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}")