diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 78e9344a4c..241a5b29d2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -53,6 +53,8 @@ FindRequiredPackage(BISON)
 FindRequiredPackage(PCAP)
 FindRequiredPackage(OpenSSL)
 FindRequiredPackage(BIND)
+FindRequiredPackage(LibMagic)
+FindRequiredPackage(ZLIB)
 
 if (NOT BinPAC_ROOT_DIR AND
     EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/aux/binpac/CMakeLists.txt)
@@ -72,26 +74,12 @@ include_directories(BEFORE
                     ${OpenSSL_INCLUDE_DIR}
                     ${BIND_INCLUDE_DIR}
                     ${BinPAC_INCLUDE_DIR}
+                    ${LibMagic_INCLUDE_DIR}
+                    ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}
 )
 
 # Optional Dependencies
 
-set(HAVE_LIBMAGIC false)
-find_package(LibMagic)
-if (LIBMAGIC_FOUND)
-    set(HAVE_LIBMAGIC true)
-    include_directories(BEFORE ${LibMagic_INCLUDE_DIR})
-    list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${LibMagic_LIBRARY})
-endif ()
-
-set(HAVE_LIBZ false)
-find_package(ZLIB)
-if (ZLIB_FOUND)
-    set(HAVE_LIBZ true)
-    include_directories(BEFORE ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR})
-    list(APPEND OPTLIBS ${ZLIB_LIBRARY})
-endif ()
-
 set(USE_GEOIP false)
 find_package(LibGeoIP)
 if (LIBGEOIP_FOUND)
@@ -110,6 +98,16 @@ if (ENABLE_PERFTOOLS)
     endif ()
 endif ()
 
+set(brodeps
+    ${BinPAC_LIBRARY}
+    ${PCAP_LIBRARY}
+    ${OpenSSL_LIBRARIES}
+    ${BIND_LIBRARY}
+    ${LibMagic_LIBRARY}
+    ${ZLIB_LIBRARY}
+    ${OPTLIBS}
+)
+
 ########################################################################
 ## System Introspection
 
@@ -184,8 +182,6 @@ message(
     "\nAux. Tools:        ${INSTALL_AUX_TOOLS}"
     "\n"
     "\nGeoIP:             ${USE_GEOIP}"
-    "\nlibz:              ${HAVE_LIBZ}"
-    "\nlibmagic:          ${HAVE_LIBMAGIC}"
     "\nGoogle perftools:  ${USE_PERFTOOLS}"
     "\n"
     "\n================================================================\n"
diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
index a1b1cd99cf..97b2f4b0b9 100644
--- a/INSTALL
+++ b/INSTALL
@@ -14,16 +14,15 @@ before you begin:
 
     * OpenSSL (headers and libraries)   http://www.openssl.org
 
-Bro can make uses of some optional libraries if they are found at
-installation time:
-
     * Libmagic  For identifying file types (e.g., in FTP transfers).
 
-    * LibGeoIP  For geo-locating IP addresses.
-
     * Libz      For decompressing HTTP bodies by the HTTP analyzer, and for
                 compressed Bro-to-Bro communication.
 
+Bro can make uses of some optional libraries if they are found at
+installation time:
+
+    * LibGeoIP  For geo-locating IP addresses.
 
 Bro also needs the following tools, but on most systems they will
 already come preinstalled:
@@ -33,7 +32,6 @@ already come preinstalled:
     * Flex  (Fast Lexical Analyzer)
     * Perl  (Used only during the Bro build process)
 
-
 Installation
 ============
 
diff --git a/config.h.in b/config.h.in
index 3783a8390d..62aa34ef43 100644
--- a/config.h.in
+++ b/config.h.in
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@
 /* Define if you have the `getopt_long' function. */
 #cmakedefine HAVE_GETOPT_LONG
 
-/* Define if you have the `magic' library (-lmagic). */
-#cmakedefine HAVE_LIBMAGIC
-
-/* Define if you have the `z' library (-lz). */
-#cmakedefine HAVE_LIBZ
-
 /* We are on a Linux system */
 #cmakedefine HAVE_LINUX
 
diff --git a/doc/quickstart.rst b/doc/quickstart.rst
index 852cf7e5e2..0534186cde 100644
--- a/doc/quickstart.rst
+++ b/doc/quickstart.rst
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ Required Dependencies
 
 .. console::
 
-   sudo yum install cmake make gcc gcc-c++ flex bison libpcap-devel openssl-devel python-devel swig
+   sudo yum install cmake make gcc gcc-c++ flex bison libpcap-devel openssl-devel python-devel swig zlib-devel file-devel
 
 * DEB/Debian-based Linux:
 
 .. console::
 
-   sudo apt-get install cmake make gcc g++ flex bison libpcap-dev libssl-dev python-dev swig
+   sudo apt-get install cmake make gcc g++ flex bison libpcap-dev libssl-dev python-dev swig zlib1g-dev libmagic-dev
 
 * FreeBSD
 
@@ -94,21 +94,20 @@ Required Dependencies
 Optional Dependencies
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-Bro can use libmagic for identifying file types, libGeoIP for geo-locating
-IP addresses, libz for (de)compression during analysis and communication,
-and sendmail for sending emails.
+Bro can use libGeoIP for geo-locating IP addresses and sendmail for
+sending emails.
 
 * RPM/RedHat-based Linux:
 
 .. console::
 
-   sudo yum install zlib-devel file-devel GeoIP-devel sendmail
+   sudo yum install GeoIP-devel sendmail
 
 * DEB/Debian-based Linux:
 
 .. console::
 
-   sudo apt-get install zlib1g-dev libmagic-dev libgeoip-dev sendmail
+   sudo apt-get install libgeoip-dev sendmail
 
 * Ports-based FreeBSD
 
@@ -116,7 +115,7 @@ and sendmail for sending emails.
 
    sudo pkg_add -r GeoIP
 
-libz, libmagic, and sendmail are typically already available.
+  sendmail is typically already available.
 
 * Mac OS X
 
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index b4779e1557..897acc9d37 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -419,15 +419,7 @@ add_definitions(-DBRO_BUILD_PATH="${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}")
 
 add_executable(bro ${bro_SRCS} ${bro_HEADERS})
 
-set(brolibs
-    ${BinPAC_LIBRARY}
-    ${PCAP_LIBRARY}
-    ${OpenSSL_LIBRARIES}
-    ${BIND_LIBRARY}
-    ${OPTLIBS}
-)
-
-target_link_libraries(bro ${brolibs})
+target_link_libraries(bro ${brodeps})
 
 install(TARGETS bro DESTINATION bin)
 install(FILES ${INSTALL_BIF_OUTPUTS} DESTINATION ${BRO_SCRIPT_INSTALL_PATH}/base)
diff --git a/src/ChunkedIO.cc b/src/ChunkedIO.cc
index ff84a343c7..f5bcb4b7c1 100644
--- a/src/ChunkedIO.cc
+++ b/src/ChunkedIO.cc
@@ -1170,8 +1170,6 @@ void ChunkedIOSSL::Stats(char* buffer, int length)
 	ChunkedIO::Stats(buffer + i, length - i);
 	}
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
-
 bool CompressedChunkedIO::Init()
 	{
 	zin.zalloc = 0;
@@ -1348,5 +1346,3 @@ void CompressedChunkedIO::Stats(char* buffer, int length)
 	io->Stats(buffer + i, length - i);
 	buffer[length-1] = '\0';
 	}
-
-#endif	/* HAVE_LIBZ */
diff --git a/src/ChunkedIO.h b/src/ChunkedIO.h
index ca95f4b40b..56b5656945 100644
--- a/src/ChunkedIO.h
+++ b/src/ChunkedIO.h
@@ -287,8 +287,6 @@ private:
 	static SSL_CTX* ctx;
 };
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
-
 #include <zlib.h>
 
 // Wrapper class around a another ChunkedIO which the (un-)compresses data.
@@ -335,6 +333,4 @@ protected:
 	unsigned long uncompressed_bytes_written;
 };
 
-#endif	/* HAVE_LIBZ */
-
 #endif
diff --git a/src/FileAnalyzer.cc b/src/FileAnalyzer.cc
index 672d1e1e09..d4064e8144 100644
--- a/src/FileAnalyzer.cc
+++ b/src/FileAnalyzer.cc
@@ -3,23 +3,19 @@
 #include "FileAnalyzer.h"
 #include "Reporter.h"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 magic_t File_Analyzer::magic = 0;
 magic_t File_Analyzer::magic_mime = 0;
-#endif
 
 File_Analyzer::File_Analyzer(Connection* conn)
 : TCP_ApplicationAnalyzer(AnalyzerTag::File, conn)
 	{
 	buffer_len = 0;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 	if ( ! magic )
 		{
 		InitMagic(&magic, MAGIC_NONE);
 		InitMagic(&magic_mime, MAGIC_MIME);
 		}
-#endif
 	}
 
 void File_Analyzer::DeliverStream(int len, const u_char* data, bool orig)
@@ -52,13 +48,11 @@ void File_Analyzer::Identify()
 	const char* descr = 0;
 	const char* mime = 0;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 	if ( magic )
 		descr = magic_buffer(magic, buffer, buffer_len);
 
 	if ( magic_mime )
 		mime = magic_buffer(magic_mime, buffer, buffer_len);
-#endif
 
 	val_list* vl = new val_list;
 	vl->append(BuildConnVal());
@@ -68,7 +62,6 @@ void File_Analyzer::Identify()
 	ConnectionEvent(file_transferred, vl);
 	}
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 void File_Analyzer::InitMagic(magic_t* magic, int flags)
 	{
 	*magic = magic_open(flags);
@@ -83,4 +76,3 @@ void File_Analyzer::InitMagic(magic_t* magic, int flags)
 		*magic = 0;
 		}
 	}
-#endif
diff --git a/src/FileAnalyzer.h b/src/FileAnalyzer.h
index 8c1890bb85..dcf9d22e8e 100644
--- a/src/FileAnalyzer.h
+++ b/src/FileAnalyzer.h
@@ -5,9 +5,7 @@
 
 #include "TCP.h"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 #include <magic.h>
-#endif
 
 class File_Analyzer : public TCP_ApplicationAnalyzer {
 public:
@@ -31,12 +29,10 @@ protected:
 	char buffer[BUFFER_SIZE];
 	int buffer_len;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 	static void InitMagic(magic_t* magic, int flags);
 
 	static magic_t magic;
 	static magic_t magic_mime;
-#endif
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/HTTP.cc b/src/HTTP.cc
index 71fa1a3dd0..b41933156d 100644
--- a/src/HTTP.cc
+++ b/src/HTTP.cc
@@ -43,9 +43,7 @@ HTTP_Entity::HTTP_Entity(HTTP_Message *arg_message, MIME_Entity* parent_entity,
 	header_length = 0;
 	deliver_body = (http_entity_data != 0);
 	encoding = IDENTITY;
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	zip = 0;
-#endif
 	}
 
 void HTTP_Entity::EndOfData()
@@ -53,7 +51,6 @@ void HTTP_Entity::EndOfData()
 	if ( DEBUG_http )
 		DEBUG_MSG("%.6f: end of data\n", network_time);
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	if ( zip )
 		{
 		zip->Done();
@@ -61,7 +58,6 @@ void HTTP_Entity::EndOfData()
 		zip = 0;
 		encoding = IDENTITY;
 		}
-#endif
 
 	if ( body_length )
 		http_message->MyHTTP_Analyzer()->
@@ -179,7 +175,6 @@ private:
 
 void HTTP_Entity::DeliverBody(int len, const char* data, int trailing_CRLF)
 	{
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	if ( encoding == GZIP || encoding == DEFLATE )
 		{
 		ZIP_Analyzer::Method method =
@@ -198,7 +193,6 @@ void HTTP_Entity::DeliverBody(int len, const char* data, int trailing_CRLF)
 		zip->NextStream(len, (const u_char*) data, false);
 		}
 	else
-#endif
 		DeliverBodyClear(len, data, trailing_CRLF);
 	}
 
@@ -450,9 +444,7 @@ void HTTP_Entity::SubmitAllHeaders()
 	// content-length headers or if connection is to be closed afterwards
 	// anyway.
 	else if ( http_message->MyHTTP_Analyzer()->IsConnectionClose ()
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 		  || encoding == GZIP || encoding == DEFLATE
-#endif
 		 )
 		{
 		// FIXME: Using INT_MAX is kind of a hack here.  Better
diff --git a/src/HTTP.h b/src/HTTP.h
index 13b87d219f..00524da20d 100644
--- a/src/HTTP.h
+++ b/src/HTTP.h
@@ -29,10 +29,8 @@ public:
 			int expect_body);
 	~HTTP_Entity()
 		{
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 		if ( zip )
 			{ zip->Done(); delete zip; }
-#endif
 		}
 
 	void EndOfData();
@@ -55,9 +53,7 @@ protected:
 	int64_t header_length;
 	int deliver_body;
 	enum { IDENTITY, GZIP, COMPRESS, DEFLATE } encoding;
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	ZIP_Analyzer* zip;
-#endif
 
 	MIME_Entity* NewChildEntity() { return new HTTP_Entity(http_message, this, 1); }
 
diff --git a/src/IRC.cc b/src/IRC.cc
index caf7c492b6..1918300ba2 100644
--- a/src/IRC.cc
+++ b/src/IRC.cc
@@ -1188,15 +1188,10 @@ void IRC_Analyzer::DeliverStream(int length, const u_char* line, bool orig)
 	if ( orig_status == REGISTERED && resp_status == REGISTERED &&
 	     orig_zip_status == ACCEPT_ZIP && resp_zip_status == ACCEPT_ZIP )
 		{
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 		orig_zip_status = ZIP_LOADED;
 		resp_zip_status = ZIP_LOADED;
 		AddSupportAnalyzer(new ZIP_Analyzer(Conn(), true));
 		AddSupportAnalyzer(new ZIP_Analyzer(Conn(), false));
-#else
-		reporter->Error("IRC analyzer lacking libz support");
-		Remove();
-#endif
 		}
 
 	return;
diff --git a/src/RemoteSerializer.cc b/src/RemoteSerializer.cc
index 324da2c92b..a21a7abc60 100644
--- a/src/RemoteSerializer.cc
+++ b/src/RemoteSerializer.cc
@@ -1222,10 +1222,7 @@ bool RemoteSerializer::SendCapabilities(Peer* peer)
 
 	uint32 caps = 0;
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	caps |= Peer::COMPRESSION;
-#endif
-
 	caps |= Peer::PID_64BIT;
 	caps |= Peer::NEW_CACHE_STRATEGY;
 
@@ -2106,11 +2103,9 @@ bool RemoteSerializer::ProcessPhaseDone()
 
 bool RemoteSerializer::HandshakeDone(Peer* peer)
 	{
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
 	if ( peer->caps & Peer::COMPRESSION && peer->comp_level > 0 )
 		if ( ! SendToChild(MSG_COMPRESS, peer, 1, peer->comp_level) )
 			return false;
-#endif
 
 	if ( ! (peer->caps & Peer::PID_64BIT) )
 		Log(LogInfo, "peer does not support 64bit PIDs; using compatibility mode", peer);
@@ -3699,11 +3694,6 @@ bool SocketComm::ProcessListen()
 
 bool SocketComm::ProcessParentCompress()
 	{
-#ifndef HAVE_LIBZ
-	InternalError("supposed to enable compression but don't have zlib");
-	return false;
-#else
-
 	assert(parent_args);
 	uint32* args = (uint32*) parent_args->data;
 
@@ -3727,7 +3717,6 @@ bool SocketComm::ProcessParentCompress()
 	Log(fmt("enabling compression (level %d)", level), parent_peer);
 
 	return true;
-#endif
 	}
 
 bool SocketComm::ProcessRemoteMessage(SocketComm::Peer* peer)
@@ -3847,10 +3836,6 @@ bool SocketComm::ProcessPeerCompress(Peer* peer)
 	{
 	peer->state = MSG_NONE;
 
-#ifndef HAVE_LIBZ
-	Error("peer compresses although we do not support it", peer);
-	return false;
-#else
 	if ( ! parent_peer->compressor )
 		{
 		parent_peer->io = new CompressedChunkedIO(parent_peer->io);
@@ -3862,7 +3847,6 @@ bool SocketComm::ProcessPeerCompress(Peer* peer)
 	((CompressedChunkedIO*) peer->io)->EnableDecompression();
 	Log("enabling decompression", peer);
 	return true;
-#endif
 	}
 
 bool SocketComm::Connect(Peer* peer)
diff --git a/src/ZIP.cc b/src/ZIP.cc
index 26095d1f11..0ebe93abe6 100644
--- a/src/ZIP.cc
+++ b/src/ZIP.cc
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 #include "ZIP.h"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
-
 ZIP_Analyzer::ZIP_Analyzer(Connection* conn, bool orig, Method arg_method)
 : TCP_SupportAnalyzer(AnalyzerTag::Zip, conn, orig)
 	{
@@ -89,4 +87,3 @@ void ZIP_Analyzer::DeliverStream(int len, const u_char* data, bool orig)
 		}
 	while ( zip->avail_out == 0 );
 	}
-#endif
diff --git a/src/ZIP.h b/src/ZIP.h
index ab5d2ce68b..6a8a180d1a 100644
--- a/src/ZIP.h
+++ b/src/ZIP.h
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBZ
-
 #include "zlib.h"
 #include "TCP.h"
 
@@ -29,4 +27,3 @@ protected:
 };
 
 #endif
-#endif
diff --git a/src/bro.bif b/src/bro.bif
index e1d510f279..a2f97356a7 100644
--- a/src/bro.bif
+++ b/src/bro.bif
@@ -3284,18 +3284,15 @@ function enable_raw_output%(f: file%): any
 	%}
 
 %%{
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 extern "C" {
 #include <magic.h>
 }
-#endif
 %%}
 
 function identify_data%(data: string, return_mime: bool%): string
 	%{
 	const char* descr = "";
 
-#ifdef HAVE_LIBMAGIC
 	static magic_t magic_mime = 0;
 	static magic_t magic_descr = 0;
 
@@ -3321,7 +3318,6 @@ function identify_data%(data: string, return_mime: bool%): string
 		}
 
 	descr = magic_buffer(*magic, data->Bytes(), data->Len());
-#endif
 
 	return new StringVal(descr);
 	%}
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/http/http-mime-and-md5.bro b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/http/http-mime-and-md5.bro
index 53b340d174..dd01e62413 100644
--- a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/http/http-mime-and-md5.bro
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/http/http-mime-and-md5.bro
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 # will normalize mime types other than the target type to prevent sensitivity
 # to varying versions of libmagic.
 
-# @TEST-REQUIRES: grep -q '#define HAVE_LIBMAGIC' $BUILD/config.h
 # @TEST-EXEC: bro -r $TRACES/http-pipelined-requests.trace %INPUT > output
 # @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff http.log
 
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/irc/dcc-extract.test b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/irc/dcc-extract.test
index 0324a3f28f..b6bf43ac50 100644
--- a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/irc/dcc-extract.test
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/irc/dcc-extract.test
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 # correctly extracted.  The mime type of the file transferred is normalized
 # to prevent sensitivity to libmagic version being used.
 
-# @TEST-REQUIRES: grep -q '#define HAVE_LIBMAGIC' $BUILD/config.h
 # @TEST-EXEC: bro -r $TRACES/irc-dcc-send.trace %INPUT
 # @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff irc.log
 # @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff irc-dcc-item_192.168.1.77:57655-209.197.168.151:1024_1.dat
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime-extract.test b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime-extract.test
index ba0869f6d9..8dc8bc9e31 100644
--- a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime-extract.test
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime-extract.test
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-# @TEST-REQUIRES: grep -q '#define HAVE_LIBMAGIC' $BUILD/config.h
 # @TEST-EXEC: bro -r $TRACES/smtp.trace %INPUT
 # @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff smtp_entities.log
 # @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff smtp-entity_10.10.1.4:1470-74.53.140.153:25_1.dat
diff --git a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime.test b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime.test
index 6d50d5919f..2b80e148ff 100644
--- a/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime.test
+++ b/testing/btest/scripts/base/protocols/smtp/mime.test
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 # Checks logging of mime types and md5 calculation.  Mime type in the log
 # is normalized to prevent sensitivity to libmagic version.
 
-# @TEST-REQUIRES: grep -q '#define HAVE_LIBMAGIC' $BUILD/config.h
 # @TEST-EXEC: bro -r $TRACES/smtp.trace %INPUT
 # @TEST-EXEC: btest-diff smtp_entities.log