diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c60962cb56012..20a0c1a02efa4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+export RIOTBASE := $(dir $(realpath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
+
 .all:
 
 .PHONY: all doc doc-man doc-latex docclean print-versions welcome