diff --git a/Makefile.vars b/Makefile.vars
index d9de961a43..edb8af6a0c 100644
--- a/Makefile.vars
+++ b/Makefile.vars
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ export BINDIRBASE            # This is the folder where the application should b
 export BINDIR                # This is the folder where the application should be built in.
 export APPDIR                # The base folder containing the application
 
-export TARGET_TRIPLE         # The target platform name, in GCC triple notation, e.g. "arm-none-eabi", "i686-elf", "avr"
-export PREFIX                # The prefix of the toolchain commands, usually "$(TARGET_TRIPLE)-", e.g. "arm-none-eabi-" or "msp430-".
+export TARGET_ARCH           # The target platform name, in GCC triple notation, e.g. "arm-none-eabi", "i686-elf", "avr"
+export PREFIX                # The prefix of the toolchain commands, usually "$(TARGET_ARCH)-", e.g. "arm-none-eabi-" or "msp430-".
 export CC                    # The C compiler to use.
 export CXX                   # The CXX compiler to use.
 export CFLAGS                # The compiler flags. Must only ever be used with `+=`.
diff --git a/boards/msba2-common/Makefile.include b/boards/msba2-common/Makefile.include
index 7a00897f00..087f664bf4 100644
--- a/boards/msba2-common/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/msba2-common/Makefile.include
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 export CPU = lpc2387
 
 # Target triple for the build. Use arm-none-eabi if you are unsure.
-export TARGET_TRIPLE ?= arm-none-eabi
+export TARGET_ARCH ?= arm-none-eabi
 
 # toolchain config
-export PREFIX = $(if $(TARGET_TRIPLE),$(TARGET_TRIPLE)-)
+export PREFIX = $(if $(TARGET_ARCH),$(TARGET_ARCH)-)
 
 export CC = $(PREFIX)gcc
 export CXX = $(PREFIX)g++
diff --git a/cpu/Makefile.include.cortexm_common b/cpu/Makefile.include.cortexm_common
index e3f66b31a0..1c3fcc4ea1 100644
--- a/cpu/Makefile.include.cortexm_common
+++ b/cpu/Makefile.include.cortexm_common
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 # Target triple for the build. Use arm-none-eabi if you are unsure.
-export TARGET_TRIPLE ?= arm-none-eabi
+export TARGET_ARCH ?= arm-none-eabi
 
 # default toolchain prefix, defaults to target triple followed by a dash, you
 # will most likely not need to touch this.
-export PREFIX ?= $(if $(TARGET_TRIPLE),$(TARGET_TRIPLE)-)
+export PREFIX ?= $(if $(TARGET_ARCH),$(TARGET_ARCH)-)
 
 # define build specific options
 export CFLAGS_CPU   = -mcpu=$(MCPU) -mlittle-endian -mthumb $(CFLAGS_FPU)
diff --git a/cpu/Makefile.include.llvm b/cpu/Makefile.include.llvm
index 387b07dd47..f796ec1b29 100644
--- a/cpu/Makefile.include.llvm
+++ b/cpu/Makefile.include.llvm
@@ -18,6 +18,6 @@ export DBG         = $(GDBPREFIX)gdb
 #export STRIP      = $(LLVMPREFIX)strip
 
 # Tell clang to cross compile
-export CFLAGS     += -target $(TARGET_TRIPLE)
-export CXXFLAGS   += -target $(TARGET_TRIPLE)
-export LINKFLAGS  += -target $(TARGET_TRIPLE)
+export CFLAGS     += -target $(TARGET_ARCH)
+export CXXFLAGS   += -target $(TARGET_ARCH)
+export LINKFLAGS  += -target $(TARGET_ARCH)
diff --git a/sys/newlib/Makefile.include b/sys/newlib/Makefile.include
index f7f24f6247..7db4d395bd 100644
--- a/sys/newlib/Makefile.include
+++ b/sys/newlib/Makefile.include
@@ -17,9 +17,9 @@ UNDEF := $(BINDIR)newlib_syscalls_default/syscalls.o $(UNDEF)
 # On OSX, newlib includes are possibly located in
 # /usr/local/opt/arm-none-eabi*/arm-none-eabi/include
 NEWLIB_INCLUDE_PATTERNS ?= \
-  /etc/alternatives/gcc-$(TARGET_TRIPLE)-include \
-  /usr/$(TARGET_TRIPLE)/include \
-  /usr/local/opt/$(TARGET_TRIPLE)*/$(TARGET_TRIPLE)/include \
+  /etc/alternatives/gcc-$(TARGET_ARCH)-include \
+  /usr/$(TARGET_ARCH)/include \
+  /usr/local/opt/$(TARGET_ARCH)*/$(TARGET_ARCH)/include \
   #
 # Use the wildcard Makefile function to search for existing directories matching
 # the patterns above. We use the -isystem gcc/clang argument to add the include
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ NEWLIB_INCLUDES ?= \
 # If nothing was found we will try to fall back to searching for a cross-gcc in
 # the current PATH and use a relative path for the includes
 ifeq (,$(NEWLIB_INCLUDES))
-  NEWLIB_INCLUDES := $(addprefix -isystem ,$(wildcard $(dir $(shell which $(PREFIX)gcc))../$(TARGET_TRIPLE)/include))
+  NEWLIB_INCLUDES := $(addprefix -isystem ,$(wildcard $(dir $(shell which $(PREFIX)gcc))../$(TARGET_ARCH)/include))
 endif
 
 # Newlib includes should go before GCC includes.