diff --git a/boards/arduino-leonardo/board.c b/boards/arduino-leonardo/board.c
index 9825132215..35b5adb315 100644
--- a/boards/arduino-leonardo/board.c
+++ b/boards/arduino-leonardo/board.c
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 
 #include "board.h"
 #include "cpu.h"
-#include "irq.h"
 #include "periph/gpio.h"
 
 #ifndef CPU_ATMEGA_CLK_SCALE_INIT
@@ -38,5 +37,4 @@ void board_init(void)
     avr8_stdio_init();
     cpu_init();
     led_init();
-    irq_enable();
 }
diff --git a/boards/common/atmega/board.c b/boards/common/atmega/board.c
index 7e7ae676c9..7c05383965 100644
--- a/boards/common/atmega/board.c
+++ b/boards/common/atmega/board.c
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 
 #include "board.h"
 #include "cpu.h"
-#include "irq.h"
 #include "periph/gpio.h"
 
 #ifndef CPU_ATMEGA_CLK_SCALE_INIT
@@ -42,5 +41,4 @@ void __attribute__((weak)) board_init(void)
 #ifdef LED0_ON
     led_init();
 #endif
-    irq_enable();
 }
diff --git a/boards/waspmote-pro/board.c b/boards/waspmote-pro/board.c
index 6130b0131a..1fdd0376e0 100644
--- a/boards/waspmote-pro/board.c
+++ b/boards/waspmote-pro/board.c
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 
 #include "board.h"
 #include "cpu.h"
-#include "irq.h"
 
 /**
  * @brief Initialize the boards on-board LEDs (green and red)
@@ -61,5 +60,4 @@ void board_init(void)
 
     cpu_init();
     led_init();
-    irq_enable();
 }
diff --git a/cpu/avr8_common/avr8_cpu.c b/cpu/avr8_common/avr8_cpu.c
index bdcfb12ec1..c451306fed 100644
--- a/cpu/avr8_common/avr8_cpu.c
+++ b/cpu/avr8_common/avr8_cpu.c
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 
 #include "cpu.h"
 #include "board.h"
+#include "irq.h"
 #include "periph/init.h"
 #include "panic.h"
 
@@ -95,6 +96,8 @@ void cpu_init(void)
     /* rtc_init */
     /* hwrng_init */
     periph_init();
+
+    irq_enable();
 }
 
 struct __freelist {