diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/builder.sh b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/builder.sh
index fdd5dac99f0c..24ad62eeb81a 100755
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/builder.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/builder.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 source $stdenv/setup
 
-configureFlags=""
+configureFlags="--with-zlib=$zlib"
 if test "$pythonSupport"; then
     configureFlags="--with-python=$python $configureFlags"
 fi
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.23.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.23.nix
index e72ecd52cdb2..79026efd7bbf 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.23.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.23.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   python = if pythonSupport then python else null;
-  inherit pythonSupport;
+  inherit pythonSupport zlib;
 
   buildInputs =  if pythonSupport then [python] else [];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [zlib];
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.26.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.26.nix
index ca3067f07654..2bd6747bc66e 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.26.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/libxml2/libxml2-2.6.26.nix
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   python = if pythonSupport then python else null;
-  inherit pythonSupport;
+  inherit pythonSupport zlib;
 
   buildInputs =  if pythonSupport then [python] else [];
   propagatedBuildInputs = [zlib];