diff --git a/cmake/modules/grpc.cmake b/cmake/modules/grpc.cmake
index d802901d45e..5d94468dfee 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/grpc.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/grpc.cmake
@@ -156,7 +156,17 @@ else()
 			"${GRPC_SRC}/third_party/abseil-cpp/absl/random/libabsl_random_internal_platform.a"
 			"${GRPC_SRC}/third_party/abseil-cpp/absl/random/libabsl_random_seed_gen_exception.a"
 		)
-		
+
+		set(GRPC_PATCH_CMD "")
+		# Zig workaround:
+		# Add a PATCH_COMMAND to grpc cmake
+		## to fixup emitted -march by abseil-cpp cmake module,
+		## making it use a name understood by zig for arm64.
+		## See https://github.com/abseil/abseil-cpp/blob/master/absl/copts/GENERATED_AbseilCopts.cmake#L226.
+		if (CMAKE_C_COMPILER MATCHES "zig")
+			message(STATUS "Enabling zig workaround for abseil-cpp")
+			set(GRPC_PATCH_CMD sh -c "sed -i 's/armv8-a/cortex_a57/g' ${GRPC_SRC}/third_party/abseil-cpp/absl/copts/GENERATED_AbseilCopts.cmake")
+		endif()
 		ExternalProject_Add(grpc
 			PREFIX "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/grpc-prefix"
 			DEPENDS openssl protobuf c-ares zlib re2
@@ -205,6 +215,7 @@ else()
 			# Keep installation files into the local ${GRPC_INSTALL_DIR} 
 			# since here is the case when we are embedding gRPC
 			UPDATE_COMMAND ""
+			PATCH_COMMAND ${GRPC_PATCH_CMD}
 			INSTALL_COMMAND DESTDIR= ${CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM} install
 		)
 		install(FILES ${GRPC_MAIN_LIBS} DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}/${LIBS_PACKAGE_NAME}"
diff --git a/cmake/modules/libelf.cmake b/cmake/modules/libelf.cmake
index 1b7311f7337..d5e8000bcec 100644
--- a/cmake/modules/libelf.cmake
+++ b/cmake/modules/libelf.cmake
@@ -24,15 +24,29 @@ elseif(NOT USE_BUNDLED_LIBELF)
     else()
         set(LIBELF_LIB_SUFFIX ${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})
     endif()
-    find_library(LIBELF_LIB NAMES libelf${LIBELF_LIB_SUFFIX})
+    # Zig workaround:
+    # since it won't look up in /usr/lib/..., add an HINT
+    if (CMAKE_C_COMPILER MATCHES "zig")
+        find_library(LIBELF_LIB NAMES libelf${LIBELF_LIB_SUFFIX} HINTS /usr/lib/${CMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR}-linux-gnu/)
+    else()
+        find_library(LIBELF_LIB NAMES libelf${LIBELF_LIB_SUFFIX})
+    endif()
     if(LIBELF_LIB)
+        # Zig workaround:
+        # avoid include whole /usr/include because it would
+        # include also system glibc headers breaking the build since
+        # we are targeting the build against our boostrapped zig.
+        if (CMAKE_C_COMPILER MATCHES "zig")
+            message(STATUS "Enabling zig workaround for libelf")
+            configure_file(${LIBELF_INCLUDE}/libelf.h libelf/libelf.h COPYONLY)
+            configure_file(${LIBELF_INCLUDE}/elf.h libelf/elf.h COPYONLY)
+            configure_file(${LIBELF_INCLUDE}/gelf.h libelf/gelf.h COPYONLY)
+            set(LIBELF_INCLUDE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/libelf)
+        endif()
         message(STATUS "Found LIBELF: include: ${LIBELF_INCLUDE}, lib: ${LIBELF_LIB}")
     else()
         message(FATAL_ERROR "Couldn't find system libelf")
     endif()
-    # We add a custom target, in this way we can always depend on `libelf`
-    # without distinguishing between "bundled" and "not-bundled" case
-    add_custom_target(libelf)
 else()
     if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
         set(LIBELF_LIB_SUFFIX ${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX})