diff --git a/examples/gnrc_minimal/Makefile b/examples/gnrc_minimal/Makefile
index f098c3fe7e57..6398f5496d42 100644
--- a/examples/gnrc_minimal/Makefile
+++ b/examples/gnrc_minimal/Makefile
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_GNRC_NETIF_IPV6_ADDRS_NUMOF=2 \
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
 
+EXTERNAL_BOARD_DIRS += $(RIOTBASE)/tests/external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards
+
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
 
 # Set GNRC_PKTBUF_SIZE via CFLAGS if not being set via Kconfig.
diff --git a/examples/gnrc_networking/Makefile b/examples/gnrc_networking/Makefile
index 1bc4558c8fba..202d1eb080e2 100644
--- a/examples/gnrc_networking/Makefile
+++ b/examples/gnrc_networking/Makefile
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@ endif
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
 
+EXTERNAL_BOARD_DIRS += $(RIOTBASE)/tests/external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards
+
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
 
 # Set a custom channel if needed
diff --git a/tests/periph_timer/Makefile b/tests/periph_timer/Makefile
index baeb9a7d946d..ddfd840eee0a 100644
--- a/tests/periph_timer/Makefile
+++ b/tests/periph_timer/Makefile
@@ -59,4 +59,7 @@ endif
 TIMER_SPEED ?= 1000000
 
 CFLAGS += -DTIMER_SPEED=$(TIMER_SPEED)
+
+EXTERNAL_BOARD_DIRS += $(CURDIR)/../external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards
+
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include