--- a/tiledb/sm/misc/generate_embedded_data_header.script.cmake
+++ b/tiledb/sm/misc/generate_embedded_data_header.script.cmake
@@ -40,11 +40,7 @@
 string(MAKE_C_IDENTIFIER ${INPUT_FILENAME} INPUT_VARIABLE)

 message(DEBUG "Compressing ${INPUT_FILE} to ${compressed_file}")
-file(ARCHIVE_CREATE OUTPUT "${compressed_file}" PATHS ${INPUT_FILE} FORMAT raw COMPRESSION Zstd
-    # Level 12 was found to have the best balance between compression ratio and speed
-    # but is available in CMake 3.26+.
-    COMPRESSION_LEVEL 9
-)
+execute_process(COMMAND zstd -9 -c "${INPUT_FILE}" OUTPUT_FILE "${compressed_file}")
 file(SIZE ${compressed_file} COMPRESSED_SIZE)
 message(DEBUG "Compressed size: ${COMPRESSED_SIZE} bytes")