--- a/configure.in	Mon Aug 17 18:57:48 2009 -0400
+++ b/configure.in	Mon Aug 17 19:52:18 2009 -0400
@@ -490,31 +490,13 @@
 
 ### Check for ZLIB library.
 
-WITH_ZLIB=true
-AC_ARG_WITH(zlib,
-  [AS_HELP_STRING([--without-zlib], [don't use zlib])],
-  with_zlib=$withval, with_zlib=yes)
-
-zlib_lib=
-if test "$with_zlib" = yes; then
-  zlib_lib="z"
-elif test "$with_zlib" != no; then
-  zlib_lib="$with_zlib"
-fi
+OCTAVE_CHECK_LIBRARY(z, ZLIB,
+  [ZLIB library not found.  Octave will not be able to save or load compressed data files or HDF5 files.],
+  [zlib.h], [gzclearerr])
 
-ZLIB_LIBS=
-WITH_ZLIB=false
-if test -n "$zlib_lib"; then
-  AC_CHECK_LIB($zlib_lib, gzclearerr, [
-    AC_CHECK_HEADERS(zlib.h, [
-      WITH_ZLIB=true
-      ZLIB_LIBS="-l$zlib_lib"
-      AC_DEFINE(HAVE_ZLIB, 1, [Define if ZLIB is available.])])])
-fi
-AC_SUBST(ZLIB_LIBS)
+### Check for HDF5 library.
 
-if $WITH_ZLIB; then
-  ### Check for HDF5 library.
+if $WITH_Z; then
 
   WITH_HDF5=true
   AC_ARG_WITH(hdf5,
@@ -536,7 +518,7 @@
         WITH_HDF5=true
         HDF5_LIBS="-l$hdf5_lib"
         save_LIBS="$LIBS"
-        LIBS="$HDF5_LIBS $ZLIB_LIBS $LIBS"
+        LIBS="$HDF5_LIBS $Z_LIBS $LIBS"
 	AC_CHECK_LIB($hdf5_lib, H5Gget_num_objs, [
           OCTAVE_HDF5_HAS_REQUIRED_API
           if test $WITH_HDF5; then
@@ -553,9 +535,6 @@
         ;;
     esac
   fi
-else
-  warn_zlib="ZLIB library not found.  Octave will not be able to save or load compressed data files or HDF5 files."
-  AC_MSG_WARN($warn_zlib)
 fi
 AC_SUBST(HDF5_LIBS)
 
@@ -2103,7 +2082,9 @@
   UMFPACK libraries:    $UMFPACK_LIBS
   X11 include flags:    $X11_INCFLAGS
   X11 libraries:        $X11_LIBS
-  ZLIB libraries:       $ZLIB_LIBS
+  Z CPPFLAGS:           $Z_CPPFLAGS
+  Z LDFLAGS:            $Z_LDFLAGS
+  Z libraries:          $Z_LIBS
 
   Default pager:        $DEFAULT_PAGER
   gnuplot:              $GNUPLOT