diff --git a/package/zlib/Config.in b/package/zlib/Config.in
index d6d94889a7..3a486376ac 100644
--- a/package/zlib/Config.in
+++ b/package/zlib/Config.in
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+config BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB_FORCE_LIBZLIB
+	bool
+
 config BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB_NG_ARCH_SUPPORTS
 	bool
 	default y if BR2_arm
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@ config BR2_PACKAGE_LIBZLIB
 config BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB_NG
 	bool "zlib-ng"
 	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB_NG_ARCH_SUPPORTS
+	depends on !BR2_PACKAGE_ZLIB_FORCE_LIBZLIB
 	select BR2_PACKAGE_HAS_ZLIB
 	help
 	  Zlib replacement with optimizations for