diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e586dec2891..00dd414105c 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -599,14 +599,32 @@ add_subdirectory(${FLB_PATH_LIB_MINIZ} EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
 
 # Zstd (zstd)
 if(FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD)
-  find_package(PkgConfig)
-  pkg_check_modules(LIBZSTD libzstd>=1.4.8)
+  find_package(ZSTD 1.4.8 QUIET)
+  if(ZSTD_FOUND)
+    set(LIBZSTD_FOUND TRUE)
+    set(LIBZSTD_LIBRARIES ZSTD::ZSTD)
+  else()
+    find_package(PkgConfig)
+    pkg_check_modules(LIBZSTD libzstd>=1.4.8)
+    if(LIBZSTD_FOUND)
+      include_directories(${LIBZSTD_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+      link_directories(${LIBZSTD_LIBRARY_DIRS})
+      add_library(ZSTD::ZSTD INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+      set_property(TARGET ZSTD::ZSTD PROPERTY
+        INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${LIBZSTD_LIBRARIES}")
+      set(LIBZSTD_LIBRARIES ZSTD::ZSTD)
+    endif()
+  endif()
 endif()
-if(LIBZSTD_FOUND)
-  include_directories(${LIBZSTD_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-  link_directories(${LIBZSTD_LIBRARY_DIRS})
-else()
+
+if(NOT LIBZSTD_FOUND)
   include(cmake/zstd.cmake)
+
+  if(NOT MSVC)
+    target_compile_options(libzstd_static PRIVATE -fvisibility=hidden)
+  endif()
+
+  set(LIBZSTD_LIBRARIES libzstd_static)
 endif()
 
 # ring buffer library
diff --git a/packaging/distros/almalinux/Dockerfile b/packaging/distros/almalinux/Dockerfile
index e95075ee613..8fc050b02e7 100644
--- a/packaging/distros/almalinux/Dockerfile
+++ b/packaging/distros/almalinux/Dockerfile
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ RUN yum -y update && \
     cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config && \
     yum clean all
 
+ARG FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=Off
+ENV FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=$FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD
+
 # almalinux/8.arm64v8 base image
 # hadolint ignore=DL3029
 FROM --platform=arm64 almalinux:8 AS almalinux-8.arm64v8-base
@@ -40,6 +43,8 @@ RUN yum -y update && \
     cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config && \
     yum clean all
 
+ARG FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=Off
+ENV FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=$FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD
 # Need larger page size
 ARG FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS="--with-lg-page=16 --with-lg-quantum=3"
 ENV FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS=$FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS
@@ -57,6 +62,9 @@ RUN yum -y update && \
     cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config && \
     yum clean all
 
+ARG FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=Off
+ENV FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=$FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD
+
 # almalinux/8.arm64v8 base image
 # hadolint ignore=DL3029
 FROM --platform=arm64 almalinux:9 AS almalinux-9.arm64v8-base
@@ -74,6 +82,8 @@ RUN yum -y update && \
     cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config && \
     yum clean all
 
+ARG FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=Off
+ENV FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=$FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD
 # Need larger page size
 ARG FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS="--with-lg-page=16 --with-lg-quantum=3"
 ENV FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS=$FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS
@@ -88,9 +98,14 @@ RUN yum -y update && \
     yum install -y --allowerasing rpm-build curl ca-certificates gcc gcc-c++ cmake make bash \
     wget unzip systemd-devel wget flex bison \
     postgresql-libs postgresql-devel postgresql-server postgresql \
-    cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config && \
+    cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config \
+    libzstd-devel && \
     yum clean all
 
+# Use system installed libzstd library.
+ARG FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=On
+ENV FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=$FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD
+
 # almalinux/8.arm64v8 base image
 # hadolint ignore=DL3029
 FROM --platform=arm64 almalinux:10 AS almalinux-10.arm64v8-base
@@ -105,9 +120,13 @@ RUN yum -y update && \
     yum install -y --allowerasing rpm-build curl ca-certificates gcc gcc-c++ cmake make bash \
     wget unzip systemd-devel wget flex bison \
     postgresql-libs postgresql-devel postgresql-server postgresql \
-    cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config && \
+    cyrus-sasl-lib cyrus-sasl-devel openssl openssl-libs openssl-devel libyaml-devel pkgconf-pkg-config \
+    libzstd-devel && \
     yum clean all
 
+# Use system installed libzstd library.
+ARG FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=On
+ENV FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD=$FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD
 # Need larger page size
 ARG FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS="--with-lg-page=16 --with-lg-quantum=3"
 ENV FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS=$FLB_JEMALLOC_OPTIONS
@@ -155,6 +174,7 @@ RUN cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX" \
     -DFLB_JEMALLOC="${FLB_JEMALLOC}" \
     -DFLB_CHUNK_TRACE="${FLB_CHUNK_TRACE}" \
     -DFLB_UNICODE_ENCODER="${FLB_UNICODE_ENCODER}" \
+    -DFLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD="${FLB_PREFER_SYSTEM_LIB_ZSTD}" \
     ../
 
 VOLUME [ "/output" ]