diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index d85ce551da..dd31b6b2b0 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ RIOTTOOLS      ?= $(RIOTBASE)/dist/tools
 RIOTPROJECT    ?= $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)
 GITCACHE       ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/git/git-cache
 GIT_CACHE_DIR  ?= $(HOME)/.gitcache
+BUILD_DIR      ?= $(RIOTBASE)/build
 APPDIR         ?= $(CURDIR)
 BINDIRBASE     ?= $(APPDIR)/bin
 BINDIR         ?= $(BINDIRBASE)/$(BOARD)
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ __DIRECTORY_VARIABLES := \
   RIOTTOOLS \
   RIOTPROJECT \
   APPDIR \
+  BUILD_DIR \
   BINDIRBASE \
   BINDIR \
   CCACHE_BASEDIR \
@@ -58,6 +60,7 @@ override RIOTTOOLS      := $(abspath $(RIOTTOOLS))
 override RIOTPROJECT    := $(abspath $(RIOTPROJECT))
 override GITCACHE       := $(abspath $(GITCACHE))
 override APPDIR         := $(abspath $(APPDIR))
+override BUILD_DIR      := $(abspath $(BUILD_DIR))
 override BINDIRBASE     := $(abspath $(BINDIRBASE))
 override BINDIR         := $(abspath $(BINDIR))
 override PKGDIRBASE     := $(abspath $(PKGDIRBASE))
diff --git a/makefiles/scan-build.inc.mk b/makefiles/scan-build.inc.mk
index 5160971c7e..10fb376f06 100644
--- a/makefiles/scan-build.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/scan-build.inc.mk
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ SCANBUILD_ENV_VARS := \
   BINDIR \
   BINDIRBASE \
   BOARD \
+  BUILD_DIR \
   BUILDRELPATH \
   CC \
   CFLAGS \
diff --git a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
index 0dee732764..cff66ea75b 100644
--- a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ export RIOTPROJECT           # Top level git root of the project being built, or
 export RIOTMAKE              # Location of all supplemental Makefiles (such as this file)
 export BINDIRBASE            # This is the folder where the application should be built in. For each BOARD a different subfolder is used.
 export BINDIR                # This is the folder where the application should be built in.
+export BUILD_DIR             # This is the base folder to store common build files and artifacts, e.g. test results.
 export APPDIR                # The base folder containing the application
 export PKGDIRBASE            # The base folder for building packages