diff --git a/tests/external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards/esp32-ci/Makefile.dep b/tests/external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards/esp32-ci/Makefile.dep
index 53c6888651..4b5fcc4921 100644
--- a/tests/external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards/esp32-ci/Makefile.dep
+++ b/tests/external_board_dirs/esp-ci-boards/esp32-ci/Makefile.dep
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # This must be a different name than 'board' as it is implemented by 'esp32-wrover-kit'
 USEMODULE += board_esp32-ci
 
+USEMODULE += esp_idf_gpio_hal
 USEMODULE += esp_idf_heap
 USEMODULE += esp_log_startup
 USEMODULE += esp_log_tagged