diff --git a/cpu/msp430/clock.c b/cpu/msp430/clock.c
index e9d7f55070..9f65000ba4 100644
--- a/cpu/msp430/clock.c
+++ b/cpu/msp430/clock.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 
 #include "debug.h"
+#include "busy_wait.h"
 #include "macros/math.h"
 #include "macros/units.h"
 #include "periph_conf.h"
@@ -99,22 +100,6 @@ static void check_config(void)
     }
 }
 
-static void busy_wait(uint16_t loops)
-{
-    while (loops) {
-        /* This empty inline assembly should be enough to convince the
-         * compiler that the loop cannot be optimized out. Tested with
-         * GCC 12.2 and clang 16.0.0 successfully. */
-        __asm__ __volatile__ (
-            ""
-            : /* no outputs */
-            : /* no inputs */
-            : /* no clobbers */
-        );
-        loops--;
-    }
-}
-
 static void wait_for_crystals_to_stabilize(void)
 {
     /* The MSP430x1xx MCU family have an oscillator fault detector that sets
diff --git a/sys/include/busy_wait.h b/sys/include/busy_wait.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..243f5c4258
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/include/busy_wait.h
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2024 ML!PA Consulting GmbH
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @defgroup    busy_wait   Busy Waiting low-level helpers
+ * @ingroup     sys
+ *
+ * @brief       This modules provides helper functions for busy waiting
+ *              on short intervals before timers are initialized, e.g.
+ *              in `board_init()`.
+ *
+ * @author      Benjamin Valentin <benjamin.valentin@ml-pa.com>
+ * @{
+ */
+
+#ifndef BUSY_WAIT_H
+#define BUSY_WAIT_H
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include "periph_conf.h"
+#include "time_units.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief   CPU cycles per busy wait loop iteration
+ *
+ * This can be used to roughly estimate the number of cycles
+ * for a given wait time.
+ */
+#ifndef CPU_CYCLES_PER_LOOP
+#define CPU_CYCLES_PER_LOOP 3
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Spin for a number of cycles.
+ *
+ * This will not take into account cycles spent on interrupts
+ * if they are enabled and occur.
+ *
+ * @param loops Number of loop iterations to take
+ */
+static inline void busy_wait(unsigned loops)
+{
+    while (loops) {
+        /* This empty inline assembly should be enough to convince the
+         * compiler that the loop cannot be optimized out. Tested with
+         * GCC 12.2 and clang 16.0.0 successfully. */
+        __asm__ __volatile__ (
+            ""
+            : /* no outputs */
+            : /* no inputs */
+            : /* no clobbers */
+        );
+        loops--;
+    }
+}
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Spin for a number of microseconds.
+ *
+ * This will roughly try to match the requested delay time, but don't
+ * expect high accuracy.
+ *
+ * This will not take into account cycles spent on interrupts
+ * if they are enabled and occur.
+ *
+ * @param usec  Number of µs to spin for.
+ */
+static inline void busy_wait_us(unsigned usec)
+{
+    unsigned loops = ((uint64_t)usec * CLOCK_CORECLOCK)
+                   / (US_PER_SEC * CPU_CYCLES_PER_LOOP);
+    busy_wait(loops);
+}
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* BUSY_WAIT_H */
+/** @} */