diff --git a/scripts/configure_petsc.sh b/scripts/configure_petsc.sh
index d874d534916e..ce087ba33976 100644
--- a/scripts/configure_petsc.sh
+++ b/scripts/configure_petsc.sh
@@ -69,9 +69,11 @@ function configure_petsc()
 
   # If HDF5 is not found locally, download it via PETSc
   HDF5_FORTRAN_STR=''
+  HDF5_CONFIGURE_STR=''
   if [ -z "$HDF5_STR" ]; then
     HDF5_STR='--download-hdf5=1'
     HDF5_FORTRAN_STR='--download-hdf5-fortran-bindings=0'
+    HDF5_CONFIGURE_STR='--with-zlib'
     echo 'INFO: HDF5 library not detected, opting to download via PETSc...'
   fi
 
@@ -121,6 +123,7 @@ function configure_petsc()
       --download-superlu_dist=1 \
       $HDF5_STR \
       $HDF5_FORTRAN_STR \
+      $HDF5_CONFIGURE_STR \
       $MAKE_NP_STR \
       $MUMPS_ARM_STR \
       "$@"