diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/node-js/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/node-js/package.py
index 32349913f0b66ce0cfa16228a0118ba9969f0aa7..ccd932f1decfa3599c81021c6c92456d00b14711 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/node-js/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/node-js/package.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class NodeJs(Package):
     depends_on('icu4c', when='+icu4c')
     depends_on('openssl@1.0.2d:1.0.99', when='@:9+openssl')
     depends_on('openssl@1.1:', when='@10:+openssl')
+    depends_on('zlib', when='+zlib')
 
     def install(self, spec, prefix):
         options = []