[depends] (libssh) native ARM compile error

When building depends natively in Raspbian on a pi, cmake of libssh fails to find system zlib:
http://paste.debian.net/891762/

${PREFIX}/arm-linux-gnueabihf/lib/libz.a does not exist, since the build system skips it if a system version is found (HAS_ZLIB=1).

If the appropriate system -DZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR and -DZLIB_LIBRARY parameters are passed, the build completes successfully.

I am looking for a more portable fix and any help would be appreciated.