diff --git a/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.default b/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.default
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0a5f9cc4c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.default
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# msp430 uses newlib by default
+DEFAULT_MODULE += newlib
diff --git a/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.dep b/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.dep
index 54590f7a88..907a9870bc 100644
--- a/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.dep
+++ b/cpu/msp430_common/Makefile.dep
@@ -1,8 +1,5 @@
 USEMODULE += msp430_common msp430_common_periph
 
-# msp430 uses newlib by default
-DEFAULT_MODULE += newlib
-
 ifneq (,$(filter newlib,$(USEMODULE)))
   USEMODULE += newlib_nano
 endif
diff --git a/cpu/msp430fxyz/Makefile.default b/cpu/msp430fxyz/Makefile.default
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..72e709ca8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpu/msp430fxyz/Makefile.default
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include $(RIOTCPU)/msp430_common/Makefile.default