diff --git a/3rdparty/zstd/CMakeLists.txt b/3rdparty/zstd/CMakeLists.txt
index 5a8b6f3d90..f4c97d3eeb 100644
--- a/3rdparty/zstd/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/3rdparty/zstd/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
-option(ZSTD_BUILD_PROGRAMS "BUILD PROGRAMS" OFF)
-option(ZSTD_BUILD_SHARED "BUILD SHARED LIBRARIES" OFF)
-option(ZSTD_BUILD_STATIC "BUILD STATIC LIBRARIES" ON)
-option(ZSTD_BUILD_TESTS "BUILD TESTS" OFF)
+if(USE_SYSTEM_ZSTD)
+  message(STATUS "RPCS3: using shared zstd")
+  pkg_check_modules(zstd REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libzstd)
+  add_library(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE)
+  target_link_libraries(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE PkgConfig::zstd)
+  target_include_directories(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE PkgConfig::RtMidi)
+else()
+  option(ZSTD_BUILD_PROGRAMS "BUILD PROGRAMS" OFF)
+  option(ZSTD_BUILD_SHARED "BUILD SHARED LIBRARIES" OFF)
+  option(ZSTD_BUILD_STATIC "BUILD STATIC LIBRARIES" ON)
+  option(ZSTD_BUILD_TESTS "BUILD TESTS" OFF)
 
-add_subdirectory(zstd/build/cmake EXLUDE_FROM_ALL)
-add_library(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE)
-target_link_libraries(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE libzstd_static)
+  add_subdirectory(zstd/build/cmake EXLUDE_FROM_ALL)
+  add_library(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE)
+  target_link_libraries(3rdparty_zstd INTERFACE libzstd_static)
+endif()
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 02cc27b7fc..1b132da0b1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ option(USE_SYSTEM_RTMIDI "Prefer system RtMidi instead of the builtin one" OFF)
 option(USE_SYSTEM_SDL "Prefer system SDL instead of the builtin one" ON)
 option(USE_SYSTEM_WOLFSSL "Prefer system MoltenVK instead of the builtin one" OFF)
 option(USE_SYSTEM_ZLIB "Prefer system ZLIB instead of the builtin one" ON)
+option(USE_SYSTEM_ZSTD "Prefer system zstd instead of the builtin one" OFF)
 option(HAS_MEMORY_BREAKPOINTS "Add support for memory breakpoints to the interpreter" OFF)
 option(USE_LTO "Use LTO for building" ON)
 option(BUILD_RPCS3_TESTS "Build RPCS3 unit tests." OFF)