diff --git a/.prev_configure.cmake b/.prev_configure.cmake
index f796eddc8a..3cd944aeae 100644
--- a/.prev_configure.cmake
+++ b/.prev_configure.cmake
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #### Libraries
 
-qt_find_package(ZLIB 1.0.8 PROVIDED_TARGETS ZLIB::ZLIB MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB zlib)
+qt_find_package(WrapZLIB 1.0.8 PROVIDED_TARGETS WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB zlib)
 qt_find_package(ZSTD 1.3 PROVIDED_TARGETS ZSTD::ZSTD MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB zstd)
 qt_find_package(WrapDBus1 1.2 PROVIDED_TARGETS dbus-1 MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB dbus)
 qt_find_package(Libudev PROVIDED_TARGETS PkgConfig::Libudev MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB libudev)
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ qt_feature("stack-protector-strong" PRIVATE
 )
 qt_feature("system-zlib" PRIVATE
     LABEL "Using system zlib"
-    CONDITION ZLIB_FOUND
+    CONDITION WrapZLIB_FOUND
 )
 qt_feature("zstd" PRIVATE
     LABEL "Zstandard support"
diff --git a/cmake/FindWrapZLIB.cmake b/cmake/FindWrapZLIB.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..585dc5e95e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/FindWrapZLIB.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# We can't create the same interface imported target multiple times, CMake will complain if we do
+# that. This can happen if the find_package call is done in multiple different subdirectories.
+if(TARGET WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB)
+    set(WrapZLIB_FOUND ON)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+set(WrapZLIB_FOUND OFF)
+
+find_package(ZLIB ${WrapZLIB_FIND_VERSION})
+
+if(ZLIB_FOUND)
+    set(WrapZLIB_FOUND ON)
+
+    add_library(WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+    if(APPLE)
+        # On Darwin platforms FindZLIB sets IMPORTED_LOCATION to the absolute path of the library
+        # within the framework. This ends up as an absolute path link flag, which we don't want,
+        # because that makes our .prl files un-relocatable and also breaks iOS simulator_and_device
+        # SDK switching in Xcode.
+        # Just pass a linker flag instead.
+        target_link_libraries(WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB INTERFACE "-lz")
+    else()
+        target_link_libraries(WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB INTERFACE ZLIB::ZLIB)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
+find_package_handle_standard_args(WrapZLIB DEFAULT_MSG WrapZLIB_FOUND)
diff --git a/configure.cmake b/configure.cmake
index cfd355dcfe..3412703333 100644
--- a/configure.cmake
+++ b/configure.cmake
@@ -4,7 +4,19 @@
 
 #### Libraries
 
-qt_find_package(ZLIB 1.0.8 PROVIDED_TARGETS ZLIB::ZLIB MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB zlib)
+qt_find_package(WrapZLIB 1.0.8 PROVIDED_TARGETS WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB zlib)
+# special case begin
+# Work around global target promotion failure when WrapZLIB is used on APPLE platforms.
+# What ends up happening is that the ZLIB::ZLIB target is not promoted to global by qt_find_package,
+# then qt_find_package(WrapSystemPNG) tries to find its dependency ZLIB::ZLIB, sees it's not global
+# and tries to promote it to global, but fails because the directory scope of the PNG package is
+# different (src/gui) from where ZLIB was originally found (qtbase root).
+# To avoid that, just manually promote the target to global here.
+if(TARGET ZLIB::ZLIB)
+    set_property(TARGET ZLIB::ZLIB PROPERTY IMPORTED_GLOBAL TRUE)
+endif()
+
+# special case end
 qt_find_package(ZSTD 1.3 PROVIDED_TARGETS ZSTD::ZSTD MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB zstd)
 qt_find_package(WrapDBus1 1.2 PROVIDED_TARGETS dbus-1 MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB dbus)
 qt_find_package(Libudev PROVIDED_TARGETS PkgConfig::Libudev MODULE_NAME global QMAKE_LIB libudev)
@@ -824,7 +836,7 @@ qt_feature("stack-protector-strong" PRIVATE
 )
 qt_feature("system-zlib" PRIVATE
     LABEL "Using system zlib"
-    CONDITION ZLIB_FOUND
+    CONDITION WrapZLIB_FOUND
 )
 qt_feature("zstd" PRIVATE
     LABEL "Zstandard support"
diff --git a/src/3rdparty/freetype/CMakeLists.txt b/src/3rdparty/freetype/CMakeLists.txt
index 13f2c434c0..6a9de38984 100644
--- a/src/3rdparty/freetype/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/3rdparty/freetype/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ qt_internal_extend_target(BundledFreetype CONDITION QT_FEATURE_png
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(BundledFreetype CONDITION QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
     LIBRARIES
-        ZLIB::ZLIB
+        WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB
 )
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(BundledFreetype CONDITION NOT QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
diff --git a/src/3rdparty/libpng/CMakeLists.txt b/src/3rdparty/libpng/CMakeLists.txt
index e07272f7c6..637ebcf548 100644
--- a/src/3rdparty/libpng/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/3rdparty/libpng/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ qt_set_symbol_visibility_hidden(BundledLibpng)
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(BundledLibpng CONDITION QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
     LIBRARIES
-        ZLIB::ZLIB
+        WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB
 )
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(BundledLibpng CONDITION NOT QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
diff --git a/src/corelib/CMakeLists.txt b/src/corelib/CMakeLists.txt
index 3c6b20636a..8351ec9263 100644
--- a/src/corelib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/corelib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -692,7 +692,7 @@ qt_internal_extend_target(Core CONDITION ICC
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Core CONDITION QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
     LIBRARIES
-        ZLIB::ZLIB
+        WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB
 )
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Core CONDITION NOT QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
diff --git a/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt b/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
index 31e727189b..a8692318eb 100644
--- a/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/gui/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -792,7 +792,7 @@ qt_internal_extend_target(Gui CONDITION ANDROID AND TEST_architecture_arch STREQ
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Gui CONDITION QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
     LIBRARIES
-        ZLIB::ZLIB
+        WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB
 )
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Gui CONDITION NOT QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
diff --git a/src/network/CMakeLists.txt b/src/network/CMakeLists.txt
index dc32520b32..e49b8d8930 100644
--- a/src/network/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/network/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ qt_internal_extend_target(Network CONDITION QT_FEATURE_http AND QT_FEATURE_zstd
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Network CONDITION QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
     LIBRARIES
-        ZLIB::ZLIB
+        WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB
 )
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Network CONDITION NOT QT_FEATURE_system_zlib
diff --git a/src/tools/bootstrap/CMakeLists.txt b/src/tools/bootstrap/CMakeLists.txt
index a2f0e30920..7d1a067126 100644
--- a/src/tools/bootstrap/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/tools/bootstrap/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -265,7 +265,7 @@ qt_internal_extend_target(Bootstrap CONDITION CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING OR NOT QT_FEA
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Bootstrap CONDITION QT_FEATURE_system_zlib AND NOT CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING
     LIBRARIES
-        ZLIB::ZLIB
+        WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB
 )
 
 qt_internal_extend_target(Bootstrap CONDITION MINGW AND WIN32
diff --git a/util/cmake/helper.py b/util/cmake/helper.py
index 8917821a3e..c0063259a9 100644
--- a/util/cmake/helper.py
+++ b/util/cmake/helper.py
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ _library_map = [
     LibraryMapping("xkbcommon", "XKB", "XKB::XKB", extra=["0.5.0"]),
     LibraryMapping("xlib", "X11", "X11::X11"),
     LibraryMapping("xrender", "XRender", "PkgConfig::XRender", extra=["0.6"]),
-    LibraryMapping("zlib", "ZLIB", "ZLIB::ZLIB", extra=["1.0.8"]),
+    LibraryMapping("zlib", "WrapZLIB", "WrapZLIB::WrapZLIB", extra=["1.0.8"]),
     LibraryMapping("zstd", "ZSTD", "ZSTD::ZSTD", extra=["1.3"]),
     LibraryMapping("tiff", "TIFF", "TIFF::TIFF"),
     LibraryMapping("webp", "WrapWebP", "WrapWebP::WrapWebP"),