diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3200c2d28..d011ad261 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -501,13 +501,16 @@ if(ENABLE_MAC)
     tr_fixup_auto_option(ENABLE_MAC MAC_FOUND MAC_IS_REQUIRED)
 endif()
 
+# Don't build libdeflate as subdirectory as its CMakeLists.txt
+# messes with global CMAKE_* variables and global compiler options
 if(WIN32 AND NOT MINGW)
     set(DEFLATE_LIB_NAME deflatestatic)
 else()
     set(DEFLATE_LIB_NAME deflate)
 endif()
-tr_add_external_auto_library_legacy(DEFLATE libdeflate ${DEFLATE_LIB_NAME}
-    TARGET deflate::deflate
+tr_add_external_auto_library(DEFLATE libdeflate
+    LIBNAME ${DEFLATE_LIB_NAME}
+    TARGET libdeflate::libdeflate
     CMAKE_ARGS
         -DLIBDEFLATE_BUILD_SHARED_LIB=OFF
         -DLIBDEFLATE_BUILD_GZIP=OFF)
diff --git a/cmake/FindDEFLATE.cmake b/cmake/FindDEFLATE.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index e57d84b4c..000000000
--- a/cmake/FindDEFLATE.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-if(DEFLATE_PREFER_STATIC_LIB)
-    set(DEFLATE_ORIG_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
-    if(WIN32)
-        set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES .a .lib ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
-    else()
-        set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES .a ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
-    endif()
-endif()
-
-if(UNIX)
-    find_package(PkgConfig QUIET)
-    # pkg-config support added in libdeflate v1.9
-    pkg_check_modules(_DEFLATE QUIET libdeflate)
-endif()
-
-find_path(DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR
-    NAMES libdeflate.h
-    HINTS ${_DEFLATE_INCLUDEDIR})
-find_library(DEFLATE_LIBRARY
-    NAMES deflate
-    HINTS ${_DEFLATE_LIBDIR})
-
-set(DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIRS ${DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR})
-set(DEFLATE_LIBRARIES ${DEFLATE_LIBRARY})
-
-if(_DEFLATE_VERSION)
-    set(DEFLATE_VERSION ${_DEFLATE_VERSION})
-elseif(DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR)
-    file(STRINGS "${DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR}/libdeflate.h" DEFLATE_VERSION_STR
-        REGEX "^#define[\t ]+LIBDEFLATE_VERSION_STRING[\t ]+\"[^\"]+\"")
-    if(DEFLATE_VERSION_STR MATCHES "\"([^\"]+)\"")
-        set(DEFLATE_VERSION "${CMAKE_MATCH_1}")
-    endif()
-endif()
-
-include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
-
-find_package_handle_standard_args(DEFLATE
-    REQUIRED_VARS
-        DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR
-        DEFLATE_LIBRARY
-    VERSION_VAR DEFLATE_VERSION)
-
-mark_as_advanced(DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR DEFLATE_LIBRARY)
-
-if(DEFLATE_PREFER_STATIC_LIB)
-    set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES ${DEFLATE_ORIG_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
-    unset(DEFLATE_ORIG_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES)
-endif()
diff --git a/cmake/Findlibdeflate.cmake b/cmake/Findlibdeflate.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1cce4da11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/Findlibdeflate.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+find_package(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME} QUIET NO_MODULE)
+
+include(FindPackageHandleStandardArgs)
+if(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_FOUND)
+    if(TARGET libdeflate::libdeflate_static AND (${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_PREFER_STATIC_LIB OR NOT TARGET libdeflate::libdeflate_shared))
+        add_library(libdeflate::libdeflate ALIAS libdeflate::libdeflate_static)
+    else()
+        add_library(libdeflate::libdeflate ALIAS libdeflate::libdeflate_shared)
+    endif()
+
+    find_package_handle_standard_args(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME} CONFIG_MODE)
+    return()
+endif()
+
+if(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_PREFER_STATIC_LIB)
+    set(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_ORIG_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
+    if(WIN32)
+        set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES .a .lib ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
+    else()
+        set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES .a ${CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+if(UNIX)
+    find_package(PkgConfig QUIET)
+    # pkg-config support added in libdeflate v1.9
+    pkg_check_modules(_DEFLATE QUIET libdeflate)
+endif()
+
+find_path(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR
+    NAMES libdeflate.h
+    HINTS ${_DEFLATE_INCLUDEDIR})
+find_library(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_LIBRARY
+    NAMES deflate
+    HINTS ${_DEFLATE_LIBDIR})
+
+if(_DEFLATE_VERSION)
+    set(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_VERSION ${_DEFLATE_VERSION})
+elseif(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR)
+    file(STRINGS "${${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR}/libdeflate.h" ${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_VERSION_STR
+        REGEX "^#define[\t ]+LIBDEFLATE_VERSION_STRING[\t ]+\"[^\"]+\"")
+    if(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_VERSION_STR MATCHES "\"([^\"]+)\"")
+        set(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_VERSION "${CMAKE_MATCH_1}")
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+find_package_handle_standard_args(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}
+    REQUIRED_VARS
+        ${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR
+        ${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_LIBRARY
+    VERSION_VAR ${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_VERSION)
+
+if(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_FOUND)
+    set(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIRS ${${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR})
+    set(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_LIBRARIES ${${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_LIBRARY})
+
+    if(NOT TARGET libdeflate::libdeflate)
+        add_library(libdeflate::libdeflate INTERFACE IMPORTED)
+        target_include_directories(libdeflate::libdeflate
+            INTERFACE
+                ${${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR})
+        target_link_libraries(libdeflate::libdeflate
+            INTERFACE
+                ${${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_LIBRARY})
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+mark_as_advanced(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_INCLUDE_DIR ${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_LIBRARY)
+
+if(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_PREFER_STATIC_LIB)
+    set(CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES ${${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_ORIG_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES})
+    unset(${CMAKE_FIND_PACKAGE_NAME}_ORIG_CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_SUFFIXES)
+endif()
diff --git a/libtransmission/CMakeLists.txt b/libtransmission/CMakeLists.txt
index 99fc38b83..b3f5c815f 100644
--- a/libtransmission/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libtransmission/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ endif()
 target_link_libraries(${TR_NAME}
     PRIVATE
         Threads::Threads
-        deflate::deflate
+        libdeflate::libdeflate
         CURL::libcurl
         FastFloat::fast_float
         psl::psl