diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
index c0aafbb9fbc1a..db94bcd422b0b 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/default.nix
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
       hash = "sha256-mpOyt9/ax3zrpaVYpYDnRmfdb+3kWFuR7vtg8Dty3yM=";
     };
 
+  patches = lib.optional stdenv.hostPlatform.isMinGW ./mingw-shared.patch;
+
   postPatch = lib.optionalString stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin ''
     substituteInPlace configure \
       --replace '/usr/bin/libtool' '${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}ar' \
@@ -59,8 +61,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   setOutputFlags = false;
   outputDoc = "dev"; # single tiny man3 page
 
-  dontConfigure = stdenv.hostPlatform.isMinGW;
-
   preConfigure = lib.optionalString (stdenv.hostPlatform != stdenv.buildPlatform) ''
     export CHOST=${stdenv.hostPlatform.config}
   '';
@@ -105,7 +105,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
     # Non-typical naming confuses libtool which then refuses to use zlib's DLL
     # in some cases, e.g. when compiling libpng.
     + lib.optionalString (stdenv.hostPlatform.isMinGW && shared) ''
-      ln -s zlib1.dll $out/bin/libz.dll
+      mkdir -p $out/bin
+      mv $out/lib/*.dll* $out/bin
     '';
 
   env =
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
       # to the bootstrap-tools libgcc (as uses to happen on arm/mips)
       NIX_CFLAGS_COMPILE = "-static-libgcc";
     }
-    // lib.optionalAttrs (stdenv.hostPlatform.linker == "lld") {
+    // lib.optionalAttrs (stdenv.hostPlatform.linker == "lld" && !stdenv.hostPlatform.isWindows) {
       # lld 16 enables --no-undefined-version by default
       # This makes configure think it can't build dynamic libraries
       # this may be removed when a version is packaged with https://github.com/madler/zlib/issues/960 fixed
@@ -138,10 +139,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
   makeFlags = [
     "PREFIX=${stdenv.cc.targetPrefix}"
   ]
-  ++ lib.optionals stdenv.hostPlatform.isMinGW [
-    "-f"
-    "win32/Makefile.gcc"
-  ]
   ++ lib.optionals shared [
     # Note that as of writing (zlib 1.2.11), this flag only has an effect
     # for Windows as it is specific to `win32/Makefile.gcc`.
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/mingw-shared.patch b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/mingw-shared.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9f08476a3a263
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/zlib/mingw-shared.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+diff --git a/configure b/configure
+index c55098a..07f7c08 100755
+--- a/configure
++++ b/configure
+@@ -243,6 +243,8 @@ if test "$gcc" -eq 1 && ($cc -c $test.c) >> configure.log 2>&1; then
+         echo "If this doesn't work for you, try win32/Makefile.gcc." | tee -a configure.log
+         LDSHARED=${LDSHARED-"$cc -shared"}
+         LDSHAREDLIBC=""
++        shared_ext='.dll'
++        SHAREDLIB='libz.dll'
+         EXE='.exe' ;;
+   QNX*) # This is for QNX6. I suppose that the QNX rule below is for QNX2,QNX4
+         # (alain.bonnefoy@icbt.com)