diff --git a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader.bin b/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader.bin
deleted file mode 100644
index 3a61ab09a8..0000000000
Binary files a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader.bin and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_colors.bin b/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_colors.bin
deleted file mode 100644
index e940caac15..0000000000
Binary files a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_colors.bin and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_colors_info.bin b/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_colors_info.bin
deleted file mode 100644
index 78e7b425f6..0000000000
Binary files a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_colors_info.bin and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_info.bin b/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_info.bin
deleted file mode 100644
index 28ec8805d2..0000000000
Binary files a/cpu/esp8266/bin/bootloader_info.bin and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk
index ef632d35db..ff9e66607b 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk
@@ -1,19 +1,7 @@
-ifeq ($(CPU),esp8266)
-  ifneq (,$(filter esp_log_colored,$(USEMODULE)))
-    BOOTLOADER_COLOR = _colors
-  endif
-  ifneq (,$(filter esp_log_startup,$(USEMODULE)))
-    BOOTLOADER_INFO = _info
-  endif
-  # Full path to the bootloader binary. In the ESP32 case this is set by the
-  # esp_bootloader module.
-  BOOTLOADER_BIN ?= $(RIOTCPU)/$(CPU)/bin/bootloader$(BOOTLOADER_COLOR)$(BOOTLOADER_INFO).bin
-else
-  # ESP-IDF uses dio as flash mode for esptool.py when qout or qio mode are
-  # configured to always boot in dual SPI mode
-  ifneq (,$(filter qout qio,$(FLASH_MODE)))
-    FLASH_MODE = dio
-  endif
+# ESP-IDF uses dio as flash mode for esptool.py when qout or qio mode are
+# configured to always boot in dual SPI mode
+ifneq (,$(filter qout qio,$(FLASH_MODE)))
+  FLASH_MODE = dio
 endif
 
 ESPTOOL ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/esptools/esptool.py
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.dep b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.dep
index 1df099a72b..593be7b4dc 100644
--- a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.dep
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.dep
@@ -1,2 +1,5 @@
 # This package can only be used with the ESP8266 CPU
 FEATURES_REQUIRED += arch_esp8266
+
+# Always include the ESP8266 SDK bootloader.
+USEMODULE += esp_bootloader
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.include b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.include
index b8ca392e49..270153533f 100644
--- a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.include
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/Makefile.include
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+PSEUDOMODULES += esp8266_sdk
+
 # Directory with the SDK source checkout. Some modules in the cpu/esp8266 use
 # internal parts of the SDK and for that they need access to the
 # ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR path.
@@ -19,5 +21,13 @@ INCLUDES += -I$(ESP8266_SDK_BUILD_DIR)
 # Modified binary libraries are built here in the Makefile.
 LINKFLAGS += -L$(ESP8266_SDK_BUILD_DIR)
 
-# esp8266_sdk doesn't generate any .a
-PSEUDOMODULES += esp8266_sdk
+# Bootloader module built from the SDK.
+DIRS += $(RIOTBASE)/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader
+PSEUDOMODULES += esp_bootloader
+
+ifneq (,$(filter esp_bootloader,$(USEMODULE)))
+  # Bootloader file used by esptool.inc.mk
+  BOOTLOADER_BIN ?= $(BINDIR)/esp_bootloader/bootloader.bin
+endif
+
+$(BOOTLOADER_BIN):
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/Makefile b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5531cc6788
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+# Bootloader binary blob
+MODULE := esp_bootloader
+
+# We are compiling the bootloader from the ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR sources, so we
+# can't use the automatic module SRC discovery rules. Also, the compiled code
+# would not be linked into the application, instead it is linked into its own
+# binary file.
+NO_AUTO_SRC = 1
+
+include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.base
+
+# List of bootloader sources.
+include $(CURDIR)/bootloader.inc.mk
+
+# Bootloader baudrate, set to the application defined one if any or the default
+# in serial.inc.mk
+BOOTLOADER_BAUD ?= $(BAUD)
+
+# Bootloader sdkconfig.h defined in CURDIR directory.
+INCLUDES = \
+  -I$(dir $(RIOTBUILD_CONFIG_HEADER_C)) \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/bootloader_support/include \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/bootloader_support/include_priv \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/esp8266/include \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/heap/include \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/heap/port/esp8266/include \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/log/include/ \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/spi_flash/include \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/util/include \
+  -I$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/build-libs \
+  -I$(CURDIR)
+  #
+
+# BOOTLOADER_BUILD=1 signals to the SDK that's a bootloader build.
+CFLAGS = \
+  -DBOOTLOADER_BUILD=1 \
+  -DESP_PLATFORM \
+  -DRIOT_BOOTLOADER_BAUD=$(BOOTLOADER_BAUD) \
+  -DRIOT_FLASH_SIZE=$(FLASH_SIZE) \
+  -O2 \
+  -ffunction-sections \
+  -fdata-sections \
+  -fstrict-volatile-bitfields \
+  -mlongcalls \
+  #
+
+# Bootloader link flags. We use the SDK source and linking files instead of the
+# RIOT-OS ones to link the bootloader. Note that we also use the unmodified
+# SDK libraries.
+LINKFLAGS = \
+  -nostdlib \
+  -u call_user_start_cpu0 \
+  -Wl,--gc-sections \
+  -Wl,-static \
+  -Wl,-EL \
+  -Wl,--start-group \
+  $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_OBJS) \
+  -Wl,--end-group \
+  -lgcc \
+  -lstdc++ \
+  -lgcov \
+  -L$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/esp8266/lib \
+  -lcore \
+  -T$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/esp8266/ld/esp8266.rom.ld \
+  -L$(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/components/bootloader/subproject/main \
+  -Tesp8266.bootloader.ld \
+  -Tesp8266.bootloader.rom.ld \
+
+# Build the bootloader on the application directory as it depends on the current
+# app settings from riotbuild.h.
+ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR = $(BINDIR)/$(MODULE)
+ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_BIN = $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR)/bootloader.bin
+ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_ELF = $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR)/bootloader.elf
+
+ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_OBJS = \
+  $(addprefix $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR)/,$(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_SRCS:%.c=%.o))
+
+DEPS := $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_OBJS:%.o=%.d)
+-include $(DEPS)
+
+# Main module dependency. We only build the bootloader.bin from this module.
+$(MODULE).module: $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_BIN)
+
+OBJ_DEPS += $(CURDIR)/sdkconfig.h
+
+$(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR)/%.o: $(ESP8266_RTOS_SDK_DIR)/%.c $(OBJ_DEPS)
+	$(Q)mkdir -p $(dir $@)
+	$(Q)$(CCACHE) $(CC) \
+	  $(CFLAGS) $(INCLUDES) -MQ '$@' -MD -MP -c -o $@ $(abspath $<)
+
+$(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR):
+	mkdir -p $@
+
+$(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_ELF): $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_OBJS) \
+    | $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_DIR)
+	$(Q)$(CC) -o $@ $(LINKFLAGS) -Wl,-Map=$(@:%.elf=%.map)
+
+FLASH_CHIP = esp8266
+ESPTOOL ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/esptools/esptool.py
+# TODO: These should be exported/configurable from the app side. That would
+# require to export these values.
+FLASH_MODE ?= dout
+FLASH_FREQ ?= 40m
+FLASH_SIZE ?= 4
+
+# We use esptool to extract a version 1 app from the bootloader.elf. This is
+# like the regular objdump binary file but it contains a 16 byte header which
+# specifies the flash size, mode and speed that the ROM bootloader uses to load
+# this second-stage bootloader image.
+$(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_BIN): $(ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_ELF)
+	$(Q)$(ESPTOOL) --chip $(FLASH_CHIP) elf2image --flash_mode $(FLASH_MODE) \
+	  --flash_size $(FLASH_SIZE)MB --flash_freq $(FLASH_FREQ) --version 1 -o $@ $<
+	$(Q)mv $(@)0x00000.bin $@
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/bootloader.inc.mk b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/bootloader.inc.mk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d0f358fe2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/bootloader.inc.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Generated by ./update_mk.sh, don't modify directly.
+
+ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_SRCS = \
+  components/bootloader/subproject/main/bootloader_start.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_clock.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_common.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_flash.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_init.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_random.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_sha.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/bootloader_utility.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/efuse.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/esp_image_format.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/flash_encrypt.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/flash_partitions.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/flash_qio_mode.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/secure_boot.c \
+  components/bootloader_support/src/secure_boot_signatures.c \
+  components/esp8266/source/ets_printf.c \
+  components/log/log.c \
+  components/spi_flash/port/port.c \
+  components/spi_flash/src/spi_flash.c \
+  components/spi_flash/src/spi_flash_raw.c \
+  components/util/src/base64.c \
+  components/util/src/crc.c \
+  #
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/sdkconfig.h b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/sdkconfig.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..182f272a82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/sdkconfig.h
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2021 iosabi
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup     pkg_esp8266_sdk
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief       RIOT-OS modification of the bootloader SDK configuration
+ *
+ * The bootloader build of the ESP8266 SDK needs some settings from the SDK
+ * configuration. These are normally generated by the menuconfig in the vendor
+ * SDK.
+ *
+ * Some of these parameters are configurable by the application. For example,
+ * the UART baudrate used by the console and the verbose level of the
+ * bootloader.
+ *
+ * @author      iosabi <iosabi@protonmail.com>
+ */
+
+#ifndef SDKCONFIG_H
+#define SDKCONFIG_H
+
+#if !DOXYGEN
+
+#include "riotbuild.h"
+
+#include "esp8266_idf_version.h"
+#include "sdkconfig_default.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+#if MODULE_ESP_LOG_COLORED
+#define CONFIG_LOG_COLORS   1
+#endif
+
+#ifndef CONFIG_LOG_BOOTLOADER_LEVEL
+/*
+ * SDK Log levels:
+ *
+ *  0 = NONE
+ *  1 = ERROR
+ *  2 = WARN
+ *  3 = INFO
+ *  4 = DEBUG
+ *  5 = VERBOSE
+ */
+#if MODULE_ESP_LOG_STARTUP
+#define CONFIG_LOG_BOOTLOADER_LEVEL     3 /* INFO */
+#else
+#define CONFIG_LOG_BOOTLOADER_LEVEL     0 /* NONE */
+#endif
+#endif
+
+/*
+ * Bootloader output baudrate, defined by the app settings as BAUD or
+ * BOOTLOADER_BAUD.
+ */
+#ifndef CONFIG_CONSOLE_UART_BAUDRATE
+#define CONFIG_CONSOLE_UART_BAUDRATE    (RIOT_BOOTLOADER_BAUD)
+#endif
+
+/*
+ * The makefile FLASH_SIZE value is set in MB, but set as bytes to
+ * CONFIG_SPI_FLASH_SIZE.
+ */
+#ifndef CONFIG_SPI_FLASH_SIZE
+#define CONFIG_SPI_FLASH_SIZE           ((RIOT_FLASH_SIZE) * 1024 * 1024)
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* !DOXYGEN */
+#endif /* SDKCONFIG_H */
+/** @} */
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/sdkconfig_default.h b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/sdkconfig_default.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4e110bfaab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/sdkconfig_default.h
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+/*
+ * Generated by ./update_mk.sh, don't modify directly.
+ * Default CONFIG_ parameters from the SDK package.
+ */
+
+#ifndef SDKCONFIG_DEFAULT_H
+#define SDKCONFIG_DEFAULT_H
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+#define CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_INIT_SPI_FLASH 1
+#define CONFIG_CONSOLE_UART_NUM 0
+#define CONFIG_CRYSTAL_USED_26MHZ 1
+#define CONFIG_LOG_DEFAULT_LEVEL 3
+#define CONFIG_NEWLIB_STDOUT_LINE_ENDING_CRLF 1
+#define CONFIG_PARTITION_TABLE_OFFSET 0x8000
+#define CONFIG_SPI_FLASH_MODE 0x0
+#define CONFIG_SSL_USING_MBEDTLS 1
+#define CONFIG_TARGET_PLATFORM_ESP8266 1
+#define CONFIG_USING_NEW_ETS_VPRINTF 1
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* SDKCONFIG_DEFAULT_H */
diff --git a/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/update_mk.sh b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/update_mk.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..a16ce4f9c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/esp8266_sdk/bootloader/update_mk.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Script to update the bootloader.inc.mk file.
+#
+# bootloader.inc.mk contains the list of source files and config options that
+# the vendor SDK uses while building the bootloader. This is generated and
+# included in the RIOT-OS source repository since it requires to have both a
+# native toolchain and esp8266 toolchain configured and it was in general tricky
+# to get to work from RIOT-OS build system.
+
+SCRIPTDIR=$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")
+
+set -eu
+
+main() {
+  if ! which xtensa-esp8266-elf-gcc >/dev/null; then
+    echo "Assuming xtensa-esp8266-elf-gcc from /opt/esp/xtensa-esp8266-elf/bin"
+    export PATH="/opt/esp/xtensa-esp8266-elf/bin:${PATH}"
+  fi
+
+  local bldr_dir="${SCRIPTDIR}/bldr_build"
+  rm -rf "${bldr_dir}"
+  mkdir -p "${bldr_dir}"
+  cd "${bldr_dir}"
+
+  local sdk_path
+  sdk_path=$(realpath "${SCRIPTDIR}/../../../build/pkg/esp8266_sdk")
+  if [[ ! -e "${sdk_path}/Kconfig" ]]; then
+    echo "Download the ESP8266 RTOS SDK to ${sdk_path} by building RIOT first"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  # Builds the bootloader.bin with the default config into the bldr_build
+  PROJECT_NAME=bootloader PROJECT_PATH="${bldr_dir}" \
+  make \
+    -f "${sdk_path}/make/project.mk" IDF_PATH="${sdk_path}" \
+    CONFIG_TOOLPREFIX=xtensa-esp8266-elf- \
+    defconfig bootloader -j
+
+  # List of all the sources and headers used by the build except the generated
+  # sdkconfig.h.
+  local bootloader_srcs
+  bootloader_srcs=(
+    $(find . -name '*.d' -print0 | xargs -0 cat | tr ' ' '\n' |
+        grep -E '^/[^ ]+\.[ch]$' -o | xargs -I {} realpath {} |
+        grep -v -F /sdkconfig.h | sort | uniq))
+
+  (
+    echo "# Generated by ./update_mk.sh, don't modify directly."
+    echo
+    # List of source files (.c)
+    echo "ESP_SDK_BOOTLOADER_SRCS = \\"
+    local src
+    for src in "${bootloader_srcs[@]}"; do
+      if [[ "${src%.c}" != "${src}" ]]; then
+        echo "  ${src#${sdk_path}/} \\"
+      fi
+    done
+    echo "  #"
+  ) >"${SCRIPTDIR}/bootloader.inc.mk"
+
+  # List of the relevant CONFIG_ settings used by those files.
+  local configs
+  configs=(
+    $(grep -h -o -E '\bCONFIG_[A-Z0-9_]+\b' "${bootloader_srcs[@]}" |
+      sort | uniq))
+
+  (
+    echo "/*"
+    echo " * Generated by ./update_mk.sh, don't modify directly."
+    echo " * Default CONFIG_ parameters from the SDK package."
+    echo " */"
+    echo
+    echo "#ifndef SDKCONFIG_DEFAULT_H"
+    echo "#define SDKCONFIG_DEFAULT_H"
+    echo
+    echo "#ifdef __cplusplus"
+    echo "extern \"C\" {"
+    echo "#endif"
+    echo
+    # Only list those configs not in the bootloader sdkconfig.h included in
+    # RIOT-OS.
+    local conf
+    for conf in "${configs[@]}"; do
+      grep -F "#define ${conf} " "${SCRIPTDIR}/sdkconfig.h" >/dev/null ||
+      grep -F "#define ${conf} " "${bldr_dir}/build/include/sdkconfig.h" || true
+    done
+    echo
+    echo "#ifdef __cplusplus"
+    echo "}"
+    echo "#endif"
+    echo
+    echo "#endif /* SDKCONFIG_DEFAULT_H */"
+  ) >"${SCRIPTDIR}/sdkconfig_default.h"
+
+  echo "Done."
+}
+
+main "$@"