diff --git a/cmake/OpenEXR.pc.in b/cmake/OpenEXR.pc.in
index bce35c2b1f..68d71c3c84 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenEXR.pc.in
+++ b/cmake/OpenEXR.pc.in
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@ Name: OpenEXR
 Description: OpenEXR image library
 Version: @OPENEXR_VERSION@
 
-Libs: @exr_pthread_libs@ -L${libdir} -lOpenEXR${libsuffix} -lOpenEXRUtil${libsuffix} -lOpenEXRCore${libsuffix} -lIex${libsuffix} -lIlmThread${libsuffix} @EXR_DEFLATE_LDFLAGS@
+Libs: @exr_pthread_libs@ -L${libdir} -lOpenEXR${libsuffix} -lOpenEXRUtil${libsuffix} -lOpenEXRCore${libsuffix} -lIex${libsuffix} -lIlmThread${libsuffix}
 Cflags: -I${includedir} -I${OpenEXR_includedir} @exr_pthread_cflags@
 Requires: Imath
+Requires.private: @EXR_DEFLATE_PKGCONFIG_REQUIRES@
 
diff --git a/cmake/OpenEXRSetup.cmake b/cmake/OpenEXRSetup.cmake
index 7d01362c84..a70f86d2f4 100644
--- a/cmake/OpenEXRSetup.cmake
+++ b/cmake/OpenEXRSetup.cmake
@@ -160,15 +160,40 @@ set(OPENEXR_DEFLATE_TAG "v1.18" CACHE STRING "Tag to use for libdeflate source r
 if(NOT OPENEXR_FORCE_INTERNAL_DEFLATE)
   #TODO: ^^ Release should not clone from main, this is a place holder
   set(CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/_deps/deflate-src/config;${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/_deps/deflate-build/config")
-  include(FindPkgConfig)
-  pkg_check_modules(deflate IMPORTED_TARGET GLOBAL libdeflate)
-  set(CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH)
-  if (deflate_FOUND)
-    message(STATUS "Using libdeflate from ${deflate_LINK_LIBRARIES}")
+  # First try cmake config
+  find_package(libdeflate CONFIG QUIET)
+  if(libdeflate_FOUND)
+    if(TARGET libdeflate::libdeflate_shared)
+      set(EXR_DEFLATE_LIB libdeflate::libdeflate_shared)
+    else()
+      set(EXR_DEFLATE_LIB libdeflate::libdeflate_static)
+    endif()
+    set(EXR_DEFLATE_VERSION ${libdeflate_VERSION})
+    message(STATUS "Using libdeflate from ${libdeflate_DIR}")
+  else()
+    # If not found, try pkgconfig
+    find_package(PkgConfig)
+    if(PKG_CONFIG_FOUND)
+      include(FindPkgConfig)
+      pkg_check_modules(deflate IMPORTED_TARGET GLOBAL libdeflate)
+      if(deflate_FOUND)
+        set(EXR_DEFLATE_LIB PkgConfig::deflate)
+        set(EXR_DEFLATE_VERSION ${deflate_VERSION})
+        message(STATUS "Using libdeflate from ${deflate_LINK_LIBRARIES}")
+      endif()
+    endif()
   endif()
+  set(CMAKE_IGNORE_PATH)
 endif()
 
-if(NOT TARGET PkgConfig::deflate AND NOT deflate_FOUND)
+if(EXR_DEFLATE_LIB)
+  # Using external library
+  set(EXR_DEFLATE_SOURCES)
+  set(EXR_DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR)
+  # For OpenEXR.pc.in for static build
+  set(EXR_DEFLATE_PKGCONFIG_REQUIRES "libdeflate >= ${EXR_DEFLATE_VERSION}")
+else()
+  # Using internal deflate
   if(OPENEXR_FORCE_INTERNAL_DEFLATE)
     message(STATUS "libdeflate forced internal, installing from ${OPENEXR_DEFLATE_REPO} (${OPENEXR_DEFLATE_TAG})")
   else()
@@ -213,16 +238,6 @@ if(NOT TARGET PkgConfig::deflate AND NOT deflate_FOUND)
   list(TRANSFORM EXR_DEFLATE_SOURCES PREPEND ${deflate_SOURCE_DIR}/)
   set(EXR_DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR ${deflate_SOURCE_DIR})
   set(EXR_DEFLATE_LIB)
-else()
-  set(EXR_DEFLATE_INCLUDE_DIR)
-  set(EXR_DEFLATE_LIB ${deflate_LIBRARIES})
-  # set EXR_DEFATE_LDFLAGS for OpenEXR.pc.in for static build
-  if (BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
-    set(EXR_DEFLATE_LDFLAGS "")
-  else()
-    set(EXR_DEFLATE_LDFLAGS "-l${deflate_LIBRARIES}")
-  endif()
-  set(EXR_DEFLATE_SOURCES)
 endif()
 
 #######################################