diff --git a/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/files/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0-zlib-1.3.2.patch b/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/files/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0-zlib-1.3.2.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..9be48a7d5464e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/files/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0-zlib-1.3.2.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+(part of a downstream quickfix batch, may still need to be looked at upstream)
+
+https://bugs.gentoo.org/970227
+--- a/src/main/savestates.c
++++ b/src/main/savestates.c
+@@ -33,4 +33,4 @@
+ #include <zlib.h>
+-#include <unzip.h>
+-#include <zip.h>
++#include <minizip/unzip.h>
++#include <minizip/zip.h>
+ 
diff --git a/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0.ebuild b/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0.ebuild
index b2dec991a37fd..4f42c04b4409d 100644
--- a/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0.ebuild
+++ b/games-emulation/mupen64plus-core/mupen64plus-core-2.6.0.ebuild
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Copyright 1999-2025 Gentoo Authors
+# Copyright 1999-2026 Gentoo Authors
 # Distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License v2
 
 EAPI=8
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ BDEPEND="
 	virtual/pkgconfig
 "
 
+PATCHES=(
+	"${FILESDIR}"/${PN}-2.6.0-zlib-1.3.2.patch
+)
+
 src_prepare() {
 	default