diff --git a/src/server/main.c b/src/server/main.c
index 70b26182b..4f893692d 100644
--- a/src/server/main.c
+++ b/src/server/main.c
@@ -1062,9 +1062,11 @@ static void SVC_DirectConnect(void)
     newcl->framediv = 1;
     newcl->settings[CLS_FPS] = sv.framerate;
 #endif
+#if USE_ZLIB
     newcl->q2proto_deflate.z_buffer = svs.z_buffer;
     newcl->q2proto_deflate.z_buffer_size = svs.z_buffer_size;
     newcl->q2proto_deflate.z_raw = &svs.z;
+#endif
 
     q2proto_error_t err = q2proto_init_servercontext(&newcl->q2proto_ctx, &svs.server_info, &parsed_connect);
     if (err != Q2P_ERR_SUCCESS) {