diff --git a/gui/qt/.cmake/try_static_libs.cmake b/gui/qt/.cmake/try_static_libs.cmake
index 95f63ae39..6c73636a1 100644
--- a/gui/qt/.cmake/try_static_libs.cmake
+++ b/gui/qt/.cmake/try_static_libs.cmake
@@ -1,26 +1,21 @@
 macro(try_static_libs_if_needed)
     if (TRY_STATIC_LIBS)
-        if(NOT CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_PREFIXES)
-            set(STATIC_LIB_PREFIX "")
-        else()
-            list(GET CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_PREFIXES 0 STATIC_LIB_PREFIX)
-        endif()
+        list(APPEND DEPS_LIBRARY_DIRS "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
         list(APPEND DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
         if(APPLE)
-            set(DYNAMIC_LIB_EXTS ".dylib" ".tbd")
-            set(STATIC_LIB_EXT ".a")
-            list(APPEND DEPS_LIBRARY_DIRS "/usr/lib" "${CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT}/usr/lib" "/opt/homebrew/lib" "/usr/local/opt" "/usr/local/lib" "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}")
-            list(APPEND DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS "/opt/homebrew/lib" "/usr/local/opt" "/usr/local/lib" "${CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT}/usr/lib" )
-        elseif(UNIX)
-            set(DYNAMIC_LIB_EXTS ".so")
-            set(STATIC_LIB_EXT ".a")
-        elseif(WIN32 OR MINGW)
-            set(DYNAMIC_LIB_EXTS ".dll")
-            set(STATIC_LIB_EXT ".lib")
+            list(APPEND DEPS_LIBRARY_DIRS "/usr/lib" "${CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT}/usr/lib" "/opt/homebrew/opt" "/opt/homebrew/lib" "/usr/local/opt" "/usr/local/lib")
+            list(APPEND DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS "/opt/homebrew/lib" "/opt/homebrew/opt" "/usr/local/opt" "/usr/local/lib" "${CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT}/usr/lib" )
         endif()
+
+        list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES DEPS_STATIC_LDFLAGS_OTHER)
         list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARIES)
         list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS)
-        set(TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS "")
+        list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES DEPS_LIBRARY_DIRS)
+
+        set(TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS "")
+        set(TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBSDIRS "")
+        set(TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS_OTHER "")
+
         foreach(LIB_NAME ${DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARIES})
             set(LIB_NAME_FULL ${LIB_NAME})
             foreach(LIB_DIR ${DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS})
@@ -32,14 +27,27 @@ macro(try_static_libs_if_needed)
                 #   /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.so.1: error adding symbols: DSO missing from command line
                 if(LIB_NAME STREQUAL "archive" AND CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux" AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU")
                     message(WARNING "[GCC Linux] Skipping libarchive static lib search due to a linking issue, will fallback on the shared lib")
+                    list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS "${LIB_NAME}")
+                    set(${LIB_NAME}_FOUND YES)
                     break()
                 endif()
-                set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${STATIC_LIB_EXT}")
+                # there are relocation issues when linking some libs on linux:
+                #   /usr/bin/ld: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libbz2.a(bzlib.o): relocation R_X86_64_PC32 against symbol `BZ2_crc32Table'
+                #   /usr/bin/ld: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libz.a(deflate.o): relocation R_X86_64_PC32 against symbol `z_errmsg'
+                #   /usr/bin/ld: /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libusb-1.0.a(libusb_1_0_la-core.o): relocation R_X86_64_PC32 against symbol `stderr@@GLIBC_2.2.5'
+                #                can not be used when making a shared object; recompile with -fPIC
+                if(LIB_NAME MATCHES "^(bz2|z|m|cairo|cairo-gobject|usb-1.0|png16|fontconfig|freetype|harfbuzz|harfbuzz-gobject|icu.+)$" AND CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Linux")
+                    message(WARNING "[Linux] Skipping '${LIB_NAME}' static lib search due to a linking issue, will fallback on the shared lib")
+                    list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS "${LIB_NAME}")
+                    set(${LIB_NAME}_FOUND YES)
+                    break()
+                endif()
+                set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
                 if(NOT EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
-                    set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}-static${STATIC_LIB_EXT}")
+                    set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}-static${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
                 endif()
                 if(NOT EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
-                    set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/lib${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${STATIC_LIB_EXT}")
+                    set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/lib${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
                 endif()
                 if(NOT EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
                     if(LIB_NAME_FULL STREQUAL "bz2")
@@ -47,52 +55,41 @@ macro(try_static_libs_if_needed)
                     elseif(LIB_NAME_FULL STREQUAL "z")
                         set(LIB_NAME_FULL "zlib")
                     endif()
-                    set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${STATIC_LIB_EXT}")
+                    set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}")
                 endif()
                 if(EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
                     message("[Info] Found static lib '${LIB_NAME}' for '${PROJECT_NAME}': ${LIB_FULLPATH}")
-                    list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
+                    list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
                     set(${LIB_NAME}_FOUND YES)
                     break()
                 endif()
             endforeach()
             if(NOT ${LIB_NAME}_FOUND)
-                foreach(LIB_DIR ${DEPS_LIBRARY_DIRS})
-                    if(NOT EXISTS ${LIB_DIR})
-                        continue()
-                    endif()
-                    foreach(DYNAMIC_LIB_EXT ${DYNAMIC_LIB_EXTS})
-                        set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${DYNAMIC_LIB_EXT}")
-                        if(NOT EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
-                            set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${DYNAMIC_LIB_EXT}")
-                        endif()
-                        if(NOT EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
-                            set(LIB_FULLPATH "${LIB_DIR}/lib${LIB_NAME_FULL}/lib/${STATIC_LIB_PREFIX}${LIB_NAME}${DYNAMIC_LIB_EXT}")
-                        endif()
-                        if(EXISTS ${LIB_FULLPATH})
-                            list(PREPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS "-l${LIB_NAME}")
-                            set(${LIB_NAME}_FOUND YES)
-                            message("[Warning] Could not find static lib '${LIB_NAME}' for '${PROJECT_NAME}', using found shared lib instead: ${LIB_FULLPATH}")
-                            break()
-                        endif()
-                    endforeach()
-                    if(${LIB_NAME}_FOUND)
-                        break()
-                    endif()
-                endforeach()
-                if(NOT ${LIB_NAME}_FOUND)
-                    message("[Warning] Could not find static nor shared lib '${LIB_NAME}' for '${PROJECT_NAME}'. Adding '-l${LIB_NAME}' directly anyway!")
-                    list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS "-l${LIB_NAME}")
-                endif()
+                message("[Warning] Could not find static nor shared lib '${LIB_NAME}' for '${PROJECT_NAME}'. Adding the lib directly anyway!")
+                list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS "${LIB_NAME}")
+                set(${LIB_NAME}_FOUND YES)
             endif()
         endforeach()
+        list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS)
+
+        # Lib dirs
         foreach(LIB_DIR ${DEPS_LIBRARY_DIRS})
             if(EXISTS ${LIB_DIR})
-                list(PREPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS "-L${LIB_DIR}")
+                list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBSDIRS "${LIB_DIR}")
             endif()
         endforeach()
-        string(REPLACE ";" " " DEPS_STATIC_LDFLAGS_OTHER "${DEPS_STATIC_LDFLAGS_OTHER}")
-        list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS "${DEPS_STATIC_LDFLAGS_OTHER}")
-        list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS)
+        list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBSDIRS)
+
+        # Raw flags
+        if(APPLE)
+            list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS_OTHER "-pthread")
+            foreach(framework CoreFoundation Foundation Carbon Cocoa ApplicationServices AppKit IOKit Security)
+                if (DEPS_STATIC_LDFLAGS_OTHER MATCHES "${framework}")
+                    list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS_OTHER "-framework ${framework}")
+                endif()
+            endforeach()
+        else()
+            list(APPEND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS_OTHER "${DEPS_STATIC_LDFLAGS_OTHER}")
+        endif()
     endif()
-endmacro()
+endmacro()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/gui/qt/CMakeLists.txt b/gui/qt/CMakeLists.txt
index 16337114a..12ba24075 100644
--- a/gui/qt/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/gui/qt/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ find_package(PkgConfig QUIET)
 # Set manually when installed with Homebrew, see https://github.com/Homebrew/legacy-homebrew/issues/45891
 # Note: we can't do the same for libiconv because it exports libiconv_* symbols and not iconv_*, so we fallback on the non-static system lib...
 if(APPLE)
-    set(BREW_LIB_PATHS "/opt/homebrew/lib" "/usr/local/opt" "/usr/local/lib")
+    set(BREW_LIB_PATHS "/opt/homebrew/lib" "/opt/homebrew/opt" "/usr/local/opt" "/usr/local/lib")
     foreach(LIB_DIR ${BREW_LIB_PATHS})
         if(EXISTS "${LIB_DIR}/libarchive/lib/pkgconfig")
             set(ENV{PKG_CONFIG_PATH} "${LIB_DIR}/libarchive/lib/pkgconfig:$ENV{PKG_CONFIG_PATH}")
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ if(PkgConfig_FOUND AND TRY_STATIC_LIBS)
     pkg_check_modules(DEPS libarchive)
     if(DEPS_FOUND)
         try_static_libs_if_needed()
-        if(DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS AND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS)
+        if(TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS)
             find_package(Iconv)
             if(Iconv_FOUND)
                 if(NOT Iconv_IS_BUILT_IN)
@@ -252,8 +252,8 @@ if(PkgConfig_FOUND AND TRY_STATIC_LIBS)
                 endif()
                 set(LibArchive_FOUND ON)
                 set(LibArchive_INCLUDE_DIRS ${DEPS_STATIC_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-                set(LibArchive_LIBRARY_DIRS ${DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS})
-                set(LibArchive_LIBRARIES ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS})
+                set(LibArchive_LIBRARY_DIRS ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBSDIRS})
+                set(LibArchive_LIBRARIES ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS_OTHER} ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS})
             endif()
         endif()
     endif()
@@ -286,9 +286,11 @@ if(NOT WIN32 AND EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/capture/libpng-apng/.libs/l
         pkg_check_modules(DEPS zlib)
         if(DEPS_FOUND)
             try_static_libs_if_needed()
-            if(TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS)
+            if(DEPS_STATIC_LIBRARY_DIRS AND TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS)
                 set(ZLIB_FOUND ON)
-                set(ZLIB_LIBRARIES ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS})
+                set(ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS ${DEPS_STATIC_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+                set(ZLIB_LIBRARY_DIRS ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBSDIRS})
+                set(ZLIB_LIBRARIES ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LDFLAGS_OTHER} ${TRY_STATIC_DEPS_LIBS})
             endif()
         endif()
         if(NOT ZLIB_FOUND)
@@ -301,6 +303,7 @@ if(NOT WIN32 AND EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/capture/libpng-apng/.libs/l
     endif()
     if(ZLIB_FOUND)
         target_compile_definitions(CEmu PRIVATE "PNG_SUPPORT")
+        target_include_directories(CEmu PRIVATE ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
         target_include_directories(CEmu PRIVATE capture/libpng-apng)
         target_link_directories(CEmu PRIVATE ${ZLIB_LIBRARY_DIRS})
         target_link_libraries(CEmu PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/capture/libpng-apng/.libs/libpng16.a ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})