diff --git a/sys/include/xtimer.h b/sys/include/xtimer.h
index 44b334ddd9..fd732abe05 100644
--- a/sys/include/xtimer.h
+++ b/sys/include/xtimer.h
@@ -146,6 +146,13 @@ void xtimer_init(void);
  */
 static inline void xtimer_sleep(uint32_t seconds);
 
+/**
+ * @brief Pause the execution of a thread for some milliseconds
+ *
+ * @param[in] milliseconds  the amount of milliseconds the thread should sleep
+ */
+static inline void xtimer_msleep(uint32_t milliseconds);
+
 /**
  * @brief Pause the execution of a thread for some microseconds
  *
diff --git a/sys/include/xtimer/implementation.h b/sys/include/xtimer/implementation.h
index b09a9252fb..56eec32948 100644
--- a/sys/include/xtimer/implementation.h
+++ b/sys/include/xtimer/implementation.h
@@ -172,6 +172,11 @@ static inline void xtimer_spin(xtimer_ticks32_t ticks) {
     _xtimer_spin(ticks.ticks32);
 }
 
+static inline void xtimer_msleep(uint32_t milliseconds)
+{
+    _xtimer_tsleep64(_xtimer_ticks_from_usec64(milliseconds * US_PER_MS));
+}
+
 static inline void xtimer_usleep(uint32_t microseconds)
 {
     _xtimer_tsleep32(_xtimer_ticks_from_usec(microseconds));
diff --git a/sys/include/ztimer/xtimer_compat.h b/sys/include/ztimer/xtimer_compat.h
index 8751fac4da..92ff694d57 100644
--- a/sys/include/ztimer/xtimer_compat.h
+++ b/sys/include/ztimer/xtimer_compat.h
@@ -68,10 +68,35 @@ static inline uint64_t xtimer_now_usec64(void)
     return ztimer_now(ZTIMER_USEC);
 }
 
+static inline void _ztimer_sleep_scale(ztimer_clock_t *clock, uint32_t time, uint32_t scale)
+{
+    const uint32_t max_sleep = UINT32_MAX / scale;
+
+    while (time > max_sleep) {
+        ztimer_sleep(clock, max_sleep * scale);
+        time -= max_sleep;
+    }
+
+    ztimer_sleep(clock, time * scale);
+}
+
 static inline void xtimer_sleep(uint32_t seconds)
 {
     /* TODO: use ZTIMER_SEC */
-    ztimer_sleep(ZTIMER_USEC, seconds * 1000000LU);
+    if (IS_ACTIVE(MODULE_ZTIMER_MSEC)) {
+        _ztimer_sleep_scale(ZTIMER_MSEC, seconds, 1000);
+    } else {
+        _ztimer_sleep_scale(ZTIMER_USEC, seconds, 1000000);
+    }
+}
+
+static inline void xtimer_msleep(uint32_t milliseconds)
+{
+    if (IS_ACTIVE(MODULE_ZTIMER_MSEC)) {
+        ztimer_sleep(ZTIMER_MSEC, milliseconds);
+    } else {
+        _ztimer_sleep_scale(ZTIMER_USEC, seconds, 1000);
+    }
 }
 
 static inline void xtimer_usleep(uint32_t microseconds)