diff --git a/src/frontend/qt_sdl/CMakeLists.txt b/src/frontend/qt_sdl/CMakeLists.txt
index d3fab933..00e4c036 100644
--- a/src/frontend/qt_sdl/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/frontend/qt_sdl/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -82,9 +82,7 @@ endif()
 pkg_check_modules(SDL2 REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET sdl2)
 pkg_check_modules(Slirp REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET slirp)
 pkg_check_modules(LibArchive REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libarchive)
-pkg_check_modules(Zstd IMPORTED_TARGET libzstd)
-
-cmake_dependent_option(ENABLE_ZSTD "Enable support for Zstandard-compressed ROMs" ON "Zstd_FOUND" OFF)
+pkg_check_modules(Zstd REQUIRED IMPORTED_TARGET libzstd)
 
 fix_interface_includes(PkgConfig::SDL2 PkgConfig::Slirp PkgConfig::LibArchive)
 
@@ -157,14 +155,9 @@ else()
     target_include_directories(melonDS PUBLIC ${Qt5Gui_PRIVATE_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 endif()
 target_link_libraries(melonDS PRIVATE core)
-target_link_libraries(melonDS PRIVATE PkgConfig::SDL2 PkgConfig::Slirp PkgConfig::LibArchive)
+target_link_libraries(melonDS PRIVATE PkgConfig::SDL2 PkgConfig::Slirp PkgConfig::LibArchive PkgConfig::Zstd)
 target_link_libraries(melonDS PRIVATE ${QT_LINK_LIBS} ${CMAKE_DL_LIBS})
 
-if (ENABLE_ZSTD)
-    target_compile_definitions(melonDS PRIVATE ZSTD_ENABLED)
-    target_link_libraries(melonDS PRIVATE PkgConfig::Zstd)
-endif()
-
 if (UNIX)
     option(PORTABLE "Make a portable build that looks for its configuration in the current directory" OFF)
 elseif (WIN32)
diff --git a/src/frontend/qt_sdl/ROMManager.cpp b/src/frontend/qt_sdl/ROMManager.cpp
index 1ce51a1f..aa87ce0f 100644
--- a/src/frontend/qt_sdl/ROMManager.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/qt_sdl/ROMManager.cpp
@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <utility>
 
-#ifdef ZSTD_ENABLED
 #include <zstd.h>
-#endif
 #ifdef ARCHIVE_SUPPORT_ENABLED
 #include "ArchiveUtil.h"
 #endif
@@ -481,7 +479,6 @@ bool LoadBIOS()
     return true;
 }
 
-#ifdef ZSTD_ENABLED
 u32 DecompressROM(const u8* inContent, const u32 inSize, u8** outContent)
 {
     u64 realSize = ZSTD_getFrameContentSize(inContent, inSize);
@@ -503,7 +500,6 @@ u32 DecompressROM(const u8* inContent, const u32 inSize, u8** outContent)
     *outContent = realContent;
     return realSize;
 }
-#endif
 
 bool LoadROM(QStringList filepath, bool reset)
 {
@@ -546,7 +542,6 @@ bool LoadROM(QStringList filepath, bool reset)
         fclose(f);
         filelen = (u32)len;
 
-#if ZSTD_ENABLED
         if (filename.length() > 4 && filename.substr(filename.length() - 4) == ".zst")
         {
             u8* outContent = nullptr;
@@ -565,7 +560,6 @@ bool LoadROM(QStringList filepath, bool reset)
                 return false;
             }
         }
-#endif
 
         int pos = LastSep(filename);
         if(pos != -1)
@@ -729,7 +723,6 @@ bool LoadGBAROM(QStringList filepath)
         fclose(f);
         filelen = (u32)len;
 
-#if ZSTD_ENABLED
         if (filename.length() > 4 && filename.substr(filename.length() - 4) == ".zst")
         {
             u8* outContent = nullptr;
@@ -748,7 +741,6 @@ bool LoadGBAROM(QStringList filepath)
                 return false;
             }
         }
-#endif
 
         int pos = LastSep(filename);
         basepath = filename.substr(0, pos);
diff --git a/src/frontend/qt_sdl/main.cpp b/src/frontend/qt_sdl/main.cpp
index b3ad0dc5..b4235edb 100644
--- a/src/frontend/qt_sdl/main.cpp
+++ b/src/frontend/qt_sdl/main.cpp
@@ -1568,7 +1568,6 @@ static bool SupportedArchiveByMimetype(const QMimeType& mimetype)
     return MimeTypeInList(mimetype, ArchiveMimeTypes);
 }
 
-#ifdef ZSTD_ENABLED
 static bool ZstdNdsRomByExtension(const QString& filename)
 {
     if (filename.endsWith(".zst", Qt::CaseInsensitive))
@@ -1580,14 +1579,12 @@ static bool ZstdGbaRomByExtension(const QString& filename)
     if (filename.endsWith(".zst", Qt::CaseInsensitive))
         return GbaRomByExtension(filename.left(filename.size() - 4));
 }
-#endif
 
 static bool FileIsSupportedFiletype(const QString& filename, bool insideArchive = false)
 {
-#ifdef ZSTD_ENABLED
     if (ZstdNdsRomByExtension(filename) || ZstdGbaRomByExtension(filename))
         return true;
-#endif
+
     if (NdsRomByExtension(filename) || GbaRomByExtension(filename) || SupportedArchiveByExtension(filename))
         return true;
 
@@ -2226,10 +2223,8 @@ void MainWindow::dropEvent(QDropEvent* event)
 
     bool isNdsRom = NdsRomByExtension(filename) || NdsRomByMimetype(mimetype);
     bool isGbaRom = GbaRomByExtension(filename) || GbaRomByMimetype(mimetype);
-#ifdef ZSTD_ENABLED
     isNdsRom |= ZstdNdsRomByExtension(filename);
     isGbaRom |= ZstdGbaRomByExtension(filename);
-#endif
 
     if (isNdsRom)
     {
@@ -2480,11 +2475,10 @@ QStringList MainWindow::pickROM(bool gba)
     QString extraFilters = ";;" + console + " ROMs (*" + rawROMs;
     QString allROMs = rawROMs;
 
-#ifdef ZSTD_ENABLED
     QString zstdROMs = "*" + romexts.join(".zst *") + ".zst";
     extraFilters += ");;Zstandard-compressed " + console + " ROMs (" + zstdROMs + ")";
     allROMs += " " + zstdROMs;
-#endif
+
 #ifdef ARCHIVE_SUPPORT_ENABLED
     QString archives = "*" + ArchiveExtensions.join(" *");
     extraFilters += ";;Archives (" + archives + ")";