diff --git a/core/include/crash.h b/core/include/crash.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1265232e15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/include/crash.h
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 INRIA
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser General
+ * Public License. See the file LICENSE in the top level directory for more
+ * details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @addtogroup  core_util
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file        crash.h
+ * @brief       Crash handling header
+ *
+ * Define a panic() function that allows to stop/reboot the system
+ *  when an unrecoverable problem has occured.
+ *
+ * @author      Kévin Roussel <Kevin.Roussel@inria.fr>
+ */
+
+#ifndef __CRASH_H
+#define __CRASH_H
+
+#include "kernel.h"
+
+/** Handle an unrecoverable error by halting or rebooting the system.
+    A numeric code indicating the failure reason can be given
+    as the ::crash_code parameter.
+    Detailing the failure is possible using the ::message parameter.
+    This function should serve a similar purpose than the panic()
+    function of Unix/Linux kernels.
+
+    if DEVELHELP macro is defined, system will be halted;
+    system will be rebooted otherwise.
+
+    WARNING: this function NEVER returns! */
+NORETURN void core_panic(int crash_code, const char *message);
+
+/** @} */
+#endif /* __CRASH_H */