diff --git a/cmake/depthaiDependencies.cmake b/cmake/depthaiDependencies.cmake
index 6b0b44f98..672c26402 100644
--- a/cmake/depthaiDependencies.cmake
+++ b/cmake/depthaiDependencies.cmake
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ else()
     hunter_add_package(FP16)
     hunter_add_package(libarchive-luxonis)
     hunter_add_package(spdlog)
-    hunter_add_package(ZLIB)
+    # ZLIB: use the system/Homebrew copy instead of Hunter's (the old pinned
+    # zlib fork fails to build against the modern macOS SDK). Found below via
+    # the standard FindZLIB module, which provides the same ZLIB::ZLIB target.
     if(DEPTHAI_ENABLE_BACKWARD)
         hunter_add_package(Backward)
     endif()
@@ -45,8 +47,23 @@ if(NOT CONFIG_MODE OR (CONFIG_MODE AND NOT DEPTHAI_SHARED_LIBS))
     # libarchive for firmware packages
     find_package(archive_static ${_QUIET} CONFIG REQUIRED)
     find_package(lzma ${_QUIET} CONFIG REQUIRED)
-    # ZLIB for compressing Apps
-    find_package(ZLIB CONFIG REQUIRED)
+    # ZLIB for compressing Apps.
+    # Use the system/Homebrew zlib directly instead of Hunter's: Hunter's pinned
+    # zlib fork fails to build against the modern macOS SDK, and Hunter also
+    # intercepts find_package(ZLIB) via its own FindZLIB on the module path, so
+    # we locate it manually and expose the ZLIB::zlib target depthai expects.
+    find_path(SYSTEM_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR NAMES zlib.h)
+    find_library(SYSTEM_ZLIB_LIBRARY NAMES z)
+    if(NOT SYSTEM_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR OR NOT SYSTEM_ZLIB_LIBRARY)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "System zlib not found (looked for zlib.h and libz). Install via: brew install zlib")
+    endif()
+    if(NOT TARGET ZLIB::zlib)
+        add_library(ZLIB::zlib UNKNOWN IMPORTED)
+        set_target_properties(ZLIB::zlib PROPERTIES
+            IMPORTED_LOCATION "${SYSTEM_ZLIB_LIBRARY}"
+            INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${SYSTEM_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}"
+        )
+    endif()
 
     # spdlog for library and device logging
     find_package(spdlog ${_QUIET} CONFIG REQUIRED)
