diff --git a/gnu/packages/compression.scm b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
index 9310b5293e..ada6a927a8 100644
--- a/gnu/packages/compression.scm
+++ b/gnu/packages/compression.scm
@@ -2664,6 +2664,10 @@ (define-public libdeflate
              (string-append "PREFIX=" (assoc-ref %outputs "out")))
        #:phases
        (modify-phases %standard-phases
+         (add-after 'unpack 'skip-static-library-installation
+           (lambda _
+             (substitute* "Makefile"
+               (("install .*\\$\\(STATIC_LIB\\).*") ""))))
          (delete 'configure))))
     (inputs
      (list zlib))