diff --git a/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk b/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk
index 94c6ed1f01..d708c2a02a 100644
--- a/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk
+++ b/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ CFLAGS += -I$(BINDIR)/riotbuild
 
 HEADER_TOOL_DIR = $(RIOTBASE)/dist/tools/riotboot_gen_hdr
 HEADER_TOOL ?= $(HEADER_TOOL_DIR)/bin/genhdr
-BINDIR_APP = $(BINDIR)/$(APPLICATION)
+BINDIR_RIOTBOOT = $(BINDIR)/riotboot_files
+
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT): $(CLEAN)
+	$(Q)mkdir -p $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)
 
 #
 export SLOT0_OFFSET SLOT0_LEN SLOT1_OFFSET SLOT1_LEN
@@ -19,8 +22,8 @@ EPOCH := $(shell date +%s)
 APP_VER ?= $(EPOCH)
 
 # Final target for slot 0 with riot_hdr
-SLOT0_RIOT_BIN = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.$(APP_VER).riot.bin
-SLOT1_RIOT_BIN = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.$(APP_VER).riot.bin
+SLOT0_RIOT_BIN = $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0.$(APP_VER).bin
+SLOT1_RIOT_BIN = $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot1.$(APP_VER).bin
 SLOT_RIOT_BINS = $(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN) $(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN)
 
 # if RIOTBOOT_SKIP_COMPILE is set to 1, "make riotboot/slot[01](-flash)"
@@ -28,7 +31,7 @@ SLOT_RIOT_BINS = $(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN) $(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN)
 # This results in the equivalent to "make flash-only" for
 # "make riotboot/flash-slot[01]".
 ifneq (1, $(RIOTBOOT_SKIP_COMPILE))
-$(BINDIR_APP)-%.elf: $(BASELIBS) $(ARCHIVES)
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/%.elf: $(BASELIBS) $(ARCHIVES) $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)
 	$(Q)$(_LINK) -o $@
 endif
 
@@ -37,11 +40,11 @@ SLOT0_IMAGE_OFFSET := $$(($(SLOT0_OFFSET) + $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN)))
 SLOT1_IMAGE_OFFSET := $$(($(SLOT1_OFFSET) + $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN)))
 
 # Link slots ELF *after* riot_hdr and limit the ROM to the slots length
-$(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.elf: FW_ROM_LEN=$$((SLOT0_LEN - $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN)))
-$(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.elf: ROM_OFFSET=$(SLOT0_IMAGE_OFFSET)
-$(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.elf: FW_ROM_LEN=$$((SLOT1_LEN - $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN)))
-$(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.elf: ROM_OFFSET=$(SLOT1_IMAGE_OFFSET)
-SLOT_RIOT_ELFS = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.elf $(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.elf
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0.elf: FW_ROM_LEN=$$((SLOT0_LEN - $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN)))
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0.elf: ROM_OFFSET=$(SLOT0_IMAGE_OFFSET)
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot1.elf: FW_ROM_LEN=$$((SLOT1_LEN - $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN)))
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot1.elf: ROM_OFFSET=$(SLOT1_IMAGE_OFFSET)
+SLOT_RIOT_ELFS = $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0.elf $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot1.elf
 
 # ensure both slot elf files are always linked
 # this ensures that both "make test" and "make test-murdock" can rely on them
@@ -49,7 +52,7 @@ SLOT_RIOT_ELFS = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.elf $(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.elf
 BUILD_FILES += $(SLOT_RIOT_ELFS)
 
 # Create binary target with RIOT header
-$(SLOT_RIOT_BINS): %.$(APP_VER).riot.bin: %.hdr %.bin
+$(SLOT_RIOT_BINS): %.$(APP_VER).bin: %.hdr %.bin
 	@echo "creating $@..."
 	$(Q)cat $^ > $@
 
@@ -68,8 +71,8 @@ $(HEADER_TOOL): FORCE
 %.hdr: $(HEADER_TOOL) %.bin FORCE
 	$(Q)$(HEADER_TOOL) generate $< $(APP_VER) $$(($(ROM_START_ADDR)+$(OFFSET))) $(RIOTBOOT_HDR_LEN) - > $@
 
-$(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.hdr: OFFSET=$(SLOT0_IMAGE_OFFSET)
-$(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.hdr: OFFSET=$(SLOT1_IMAGE_OFFSET)
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0.hdr: OFFSET=$(SLOT0_IMAGE_OFFSET)
+$(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot1.hdr: OFFSET=$(SLOT1_IMAGE_OFFSET)
 
 # Generic target to create a binary files for both slots
 riotboot: $(SLOT_RIOT_BINS)
@@ -104,12 +107,12 @@ ifneq ($(BOOTLOADER_BIN)/riotboot.bin,$(BINFILE))
 endif
 
 # Create combined binary booloader + RIOT firmware with header
-RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0-combined.bin
+RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN = $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0-combined.bin
 riotboot/combined-slot0: $(RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN)
 $(RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN): $(BOOTLOADER_BIN)/riotboot.extended.bin $(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN)
 	$(Q)cat $^ > $@
 
-RIOTBOOT_EXTENDED_BIN = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0-extended.bin
+RIOTBOOT_EXTENDED_BIN = $(BINDIR_RIOTBOOT)/slot0-extended.bin
 
 # Generate a binary file from slot 0 which covers slot 1 riot_hdr
 # in order to invalidate slot 1
diff --git a/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/README.md b/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/README.md
index 76dd90198c..683eaae638 100644
--- a/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/README.md
+++ b/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/README.md
@@ -50,6 +50,6 @@ number:
 Then send via CoAP, for example, with libcoap's coap_client:
 
     $ coap-client -m post coap://[<ip address of node>]/flashwrite \
-       -f bin/<board>/tests_riotboot_flashwrite-slot1.riot.bin -b 64
+       -f bin/<board>/riotboot_files/slot1.bin -b 64
 
 Then reboot the node manually, confirming that it booted from slot 1.
diff --git a/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/tests-with-config/01-run.py b/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/tests-with-config/01-run.py
index 4752a2a9ec..190866c99a 100755
--- a/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/tests-with-config/01-run.py
+++ b/tests/riotboot_flashwrite/tests-with-config/01-run.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def make_notify(client_url, slot, version):
         "POST",
         "coap://{}/flashwrite".format(client_url),
         "--payload",
-        "@tests_riotboot_flashwrite-slot{}.{}.riot.bin".format(slot, version),
+        "@riotboot_files/slot{}.{}.bin".format(slot, version),
         "--payload-initial-szx",
         "2",
     ]