diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8ad7bcfe60ba851ba023cf7e41d26d10aae3f86e..14363fdefbf561e64bc1398d782424ceddf9e5da 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -719,6 +719,12 @@ if(Slicer_USE_QtTesting)
   find_package(QtTesting REQUIRED)
 endif()
 
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# ZLIB
+#-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)
+include_directories(BEFORE ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS} )
+
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # qMidasAPI
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/Libs/FreeSurfer/CMakeLists.txt b/Libs/FreeSurfer/CMakeLists.txt
index e0f2f2ca7fd003d2603eb1bb6ea6913935fde3db..36dc65063ffe0fa2b00f00220b53ac982f540591 100644
--- a/Libs/FreeSurfer/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Libs/FreeSurfer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ set(VTK_LIBRARIES vtkCommon vtkFiltering vtkIO)
 
 set(libs
   ${VTK_LIBRARIES}
-  vtkzlib
+  ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}
   )
 target_link_libraries(${lib_name} ${libs})
 
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_DCMTK.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_DCMTK.cmake
index 3b6e2734acc4f6ca43f62d58fe08909fcb948db3..4db743f8deffad42a9437c52a190eba4c99c5af2 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_DCMTK.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_DCMTK.cmake
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ endif()
 set(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILENAME}_FILE_INCLUDED 1)
 
 # Set dependency list
-set(DCMTK_DEPENDENCIES "")
+set(DCMTK_DEPENDENCIES "zlib")
 
 # Include dependent projects if any
 SlicerMacroCheckExternalProjectDependency(DCMTK)
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_ITKv4.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_ITKv4.cmake
index 3bbefa442864c90d00ff3009554b44caf809667d..993455b4cf256bd7781b9db0b2a883d2b040a955 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_ITKv4.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_ITKv4.cmake
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ if(DEFINED ITK_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${ITK_DIR})
 endif()
 
 # Set dependency list
-set(ITKv4_DEPENDENCIES "")
+set(ITKv4_DEPENDENCIES "zlib")
 if(Slicer_BUILD_DICOM_SUPPORT)
   list(APPEND ITKv4_DEPENDENCIES DCMTK)
 endif()
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ if(NOT DEFINED ITK_DIR)
       -DITK_USE_SYSTEM_DCMTK:BOOL=${Slicer_BUILD_DICOM_SUPPORT}
       ${ITKv4_DCMTK_ARGS}
       ${ITKv4_WRAP_ARGS}
+      -DITK_USE_SYSTEM_ZLIB:BOOL=ON
+      -DZLIB_ROOT:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_ROOT}
+      -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
+      -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY}
     INSTALL_COMMAND ""
     DEPENDS
       ${ITKv4_DEPENDENCIES}
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_LibArchive.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_LibArchive.cmake
index d3f000d922d24f1b6fb1ac4159d38e78a58f2714..5f3c3496d46f150ddee8a37766757482e383ae00 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_LibArchive.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_LibArchive.cmake
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ if(DEFINED LibArchive_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${LibArchive_DIR})
 endif()
 
 # Set dependency list
-set(LibArchive_DEPENDENCIES "")
+set(LibArchive_DEPENDENCIES "zlib")
 if(WIN32)
   list(APPEND LibArchive_DEPENDENCIES zlib)
 endif()
@@ -29,14 +29,6 @@ if(NOT DEFINED LibArchive_DIR)
   #         of LibArchive, see the repository for earlier revisions of this file.
   #
   set(ADDITIONAL_CMAKE_ARGS)
-  if(WIN32)
-    # CMake arguments specific to LibArchive >= 2.8.4
-    list(APPEND ADDITIONAL_CMAKE_ARGS
-      -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${zlib_DIR}/include
-      -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${zlib_DIR}/lib/zlib.lib
-      -DZLIB_ROOT:PATH=${zlib_DIR}
-      )
-  endif()
   # CMake arguments specific to LibArchive >= 2.8.4
   list(APPEND ADDITIONAL_CMAKE_ARGS
     -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=OFF
@@ -77,6 +69,9 @@ if(NOT DEFINED LibArchive_DIR)
       -DENABLE_TAR:BOOL=OFF
       -DENABLE_TEST:BOOL=OFF
       -DENABLE_XATTR:BOOL=OFF
+      -DZLIB_ROOT:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_ROOT}
+      -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
+      -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY}
       ${ADDITIONAL_CMAKE_ARGS}
       -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<INSTALL_DIR>
     DEPENDS
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_VTK.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_VTK.cmake
index 5e1053d9ad0c0198a1c658b09bae2c1d81c394a2..5ee0630927ede4652d60658af9c9a4ba266d0f18 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_VTK.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_VTK.cmake
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ if(DEFINED VTK_SOURCE_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${VTK_SOURCE_DIR})
 endif()
 
 # Set dependency list
-set(VTK_DEPENDENCIES "")
+set(VTK_DEPENDENCIES "zlib")
 if (Slicer_USE_PYTHONQT)
   list(APPEND VTK_DEPENDENCIES python)
 endif()
@@ -164,6 +164,10 @@ if(NOT DEFINED VTK_DIR OR NOT DEFINED VTK_SOURCE_DIR)
       ${VTK_PYTHON_ARGS}
       ${VTK_QT_ARGS}
       ${VTK_MAC_ARGS}
+      -DVTK_USE_SYSTEM_ZLIB:BOOL=ON
+      -DZLIB_ROOT:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_ROOT}
+      -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
+      -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY}
     INSTALL_COMMAND ""
     DEPENDS
       ${VTK_DEPENDENCIES}
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_python.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_python.cmake
index 7b97d10022d0f116f0f279b694ca047bc38171ed..5d25e965cd851b098a490ec27275ca21e8971051 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_python.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_python.cmake
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ endif()
 set(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILENAME}_FILE_INCLUDED 1)
 
 # Set dependency list
-set(python_DEPENDENCIES CTKAPPLAUNCHER)
+set(python_DEPENDENCIES zlib CTKAPPLAUNCHER)
 if(Slicer_USE_PYTHONQT_WITH_TCL)
   if(WIN32)
     list(APPEND python_DEPENDENCIES tcl)
@@ -91,8 +91,8 @@ if(NOT DEFINED python_DIR)
   set(CMAKE_CFG_INTDIR "Release")
 
   ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
-    GIT_REPOSITORY "${git_protocol}://github.com/davidsansome/python-cmake-buildsystem.git"
-    GIT_TAG "60ee8280184b5c2ace915777193f457df57f605a"
+    GIT_REPOSITORY "${git_protocol}://github.com/hjmjohnson/python-cmake-buildsystem.git"
+    GIT_TAG "ac696dc5ee868c8ce5f75dd5ee4fda687104b422"
     "${${PROJECT_NAME}_EP_UPDATE_IF_GREATER_288}"
     SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${proj}
     BINARY_DIR ${proj}-build
@@ -108,7 +108,19 @@ if(NOT DEFINED python_DIR)
       #-DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=OFF
       -DBUILD_SHARED:BOOL=ON
       -DBUILD_STATIC:BOOL=OFF
-      -DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES:BOOL=ON
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_Curses:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_DB:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_EXPAT:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_GDBM:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_OpenSSL:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_READLINE:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_SQLITE3:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_TCL:BOOL=OFF
+      -DUSE_SYSTEM_ZLIB:BOOL=ON
+      -DZLIB_ROOT:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_ROOT}
+      -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
+      -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY}
       ${python_TCL_EXTERNAL_PROJECT_ARGS}
     DEPENDS
       python-source ${python_DEPENDENCIES}
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_teem.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_teem.cmake
index 0c78822d8ae96c18c751471b635f7b94984e98b8..0fcbd022078afb20f3248349fdf43f1543ccb92f 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_teem.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_teem.cmake
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ endif()
 set(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILENAME}_FILE_INCLUDED 1)
 
 # Set dependency list
-set(teem_DEPENDENCIES VTK)
+set(teem_DEPENDENCIES zlib VTK)
 
 # Include dependent projects if any
 SlicerMacroCheckExternalProjectDependency(teem)
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@ endif()
 #message(STATUS "${__indent}Adding project ${proj}")
 
 if(WIN32)
-  set(teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/${CMAKE_CFG_INTDIR}/vtkzlib.lib)
+#set(teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/${CMAKE_CFG_INTDIR}/vtkzlib.lib)
   set(teem_PNG_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/${CMAKE_CFG_INTDIR}/vtkpng.lib)
 elseif(APPLE)
-  set(teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/libvtkzlib.dylib)
+#set(teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/libvtkzlib.dylib)
   set(teem_PNG_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/libvtkpng.dylib)
 else()
-  set(teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/libvtkzlib.so)
+#set(teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/libvtkzlib.so)
   set(teem_PNG_LIBRARY ${VTK_DIR}/bin/libvtkpng.so)
 endif()
 
@@ -67,14 +67,15 @@ ExternalProject_Add(${proj}
     -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE:BOOL=OFF
     -DTeem_PTHREAD:BOOL=OFF
     -DTeem_BZIP2:BOOL=OFF
-    -DTeem_ZLIB:BOOL=ON
     -DTeem_PNG:BOOL=ON
-    -DTeem_VTK_MANGLE:BOOL=ON
     -DTeem_VTK_TOOLKITS_IPATH:FILEPATH=${VTK_DIR}
-    -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${VTK_SOURCE_DIR}/Utilities
-    -DTeem_VTK_ZLIB_MANGLE_IPATH:PATH=${VTK_SOURCE_DIR}/Utilities/vtkzlib
-    -DTeem_ZLIB_DLLCONF_IPATH:PATH=${VTK_DIR}/Utilities
-    -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${teem_ZLIB_LIBRARY}
+    -DTeem_ZLIB:BOOL=ON
+    -DZLIB_ROOT:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_ROOT}
+    -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
+    -DZLIB_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY}
+    -DTeem_VTK_MANGLE:BOOL=OFF ## NOT NEEDED FOR EXTERNAL ZLIB outside of vtk
+    #-DTeem_VTK_ZLIB_MANGLE_IPATH:PATH=${VTK_SOURCE_DIR}/Utilities/vtkzlib
+    #-DTeem_ZLIB_DLLCONF_IPATH:PATH=${VTK_DIR}/Utilities
     -DPNG_PNG_INCLUDE_DIR:PATH=${VTK_SOURCE_DIR}/Utilities/vtkpng
     -DTeem_PNG_DLLCONF_IPATH:PATH=${VTK_DIR}/Utilities
     -DPNG_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=${teem_PNG_LIBRARY}
diff --git a/SuperBuild/External_zlib.cmake b/SuperBuild/External_zlib.cmake
index e8f350cdfec4940471e81f860aeaf2be5553b76c..add7880191612d544b3f718dd8f9e0bfea445f69 100644
--- a/SuperBuild/External_zlib.cmake
+++ b/SuperBuild/External_zlib.cmake
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ if(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILENAME}_FILE_INCLUDED)
 endif()
 set(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILENAME}_FILE_INCLUDED 1)
 
+# Sanity checks
+if(DEFINED zlib_DIR AND NOT EXISTS ${zlib_DIR})
+  message(FATAL_ERROR "zlib_DIR variable is defined but corresponds to non-existing directory")
+endif()
+
 # Set dependency list
 set(zlib_DEPENDENCIES "")
 
@@ -13,7 +18,7 @@ set(zlib_DEPENDENCIES "")
 SlicerMacroCheckExternalProjectDependency(zlib)
 set(proj zlib)
 
-if(NOT DEFINED zlib_DIR)
+if(NOT DEFINED ${proj}_DIR)
   #message(STATUS "${__indent}Adding project ${proj}")
 
   set(ADDITIONAL_CMAKE_ARGS)
@@ -39,25 +44,33 @@ if(NOT DEFINED zlib_DIR)
     GIT_REPOSITORY "${git_protocol}://github.com/commontk/zlib.git"
     GIT_TAG "66a753054b356da85e1838a081aa94287226823e"
     "${${PROJECT_NAME}_EP_UPDATE_IF_GREATER_288}"
-    SOURCE_DIR zlib
-    BINARY_DIR zlib-build
-    INSTALL_DIR zlib-install
+    SOURCE_DIR ${proj}
+    BINARY_DIR ${proj}-build
+    INSTALL_DIR ${proj}-install
     CMAKE_GENERATOR ${gen}
     CMAKE_ARGS
+      ## CXX should not be needed, but it a cmake default test
+      -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:FILEPATH=${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER}
+      -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER:FILEPATH=${CMAKE_C_COMPILER}
+      -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS:STRING=${zlib_c_flags}
       ${CMAKE_OSX_EXTERNAL_PROJECT_ARGS}
       -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE}
-      # -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS:STRING=${ep_common_cxx_flags} # Not used
-      -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS:STRING=${zlib_c_flags}
-      -DZLIB_MANGLE_PREFIX:STRING=la_zlib_
+      -DZLIB_MANGLE_PREFIX:STRING=slicer_zlib_
       ${ADDITIONAL_CMAKE_ARGS}
       -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=<INSTALL_DIR>
     DEPENDS
       ${zlib_DEPENDENCIES}
     )
   set(zlib_DIR ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/zlib-install)
+  set(SLICER_ZLIB_ROOT ${zlib_DIR})
+  set(SLICER_ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR ${zlib_DIR}/include )
+  if(WIN32)
+    set(SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY     ${zlib_DIR}/lib/zlib.lib )
+  else()
+    set(SLICER_ZLIB_LIBRARY     ${zlib_DIR}/lib/libzlib.a )
+  endif()
 else()
   # The project is provided using zlib_DIR, nevertheless since other project may depend on zlib,
   # let's add an 'empty' one
   SlicerMacroEmptyExternalProject(${proj} "${zlib_DEPENDENCIES}")
 endif()
-