diff --git a/examples/cord_ep/Makefile b/examples/cord_ep/Makefile
index b987bb240a..95ab5d09a2 100644
--- a/examples/cord_ep/Makefile
+++ b/examples/cord_ep/Makefile
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ USEMODULE += fmt
 # Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+DEVELHELP ?= 1
 
 # For debugging and demonstration purposes, we limit the lifetime to 60s
 CFLAGS += -DCORD_LT=60
diff --git a/examples/cord_epsim/Makefile b/examples/cord_epsim/Makefile
index 5a7671ad37..199397134b 100644
--- a/examples/cord_epsim/Makefile
+++ b/examples/cord_epsim/Makefile
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ USEMODULE += xtimer
 # Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+DEVELHELP ?= 1
 
 # For debugging and demonstration purposes, we limit the lifetime to the minimal
 # allowed value of 60s (see draft-ietf-core-resource-directory-11, Table 2)
diff --git a/examples/dtls-echo/Makefile b/examples/dtls-echo/Makefile
index d8d4f0966b..042fbb4375 100644
--- a/examples/dtls-echo/Makefile
+++ b/examples/dtls-echo/Makefile
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ CFLAGS += -DTHREAD_STACKSIZE_MAIN=\(3*THREAD_STACKSIZE_DEFAULT\)
 # Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+DEVELHELP ?= 1
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/examples/dtls-wolfssl/Makefile b/examples/dtls-wolfssl/Makefile
index 8bb4e7699f..ed68d71694 100644
--- a/examples/dtls-wolfssl/Makefile
+++ b/examples/dtls-wolfssl/Makefile
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ CFLAGS += -DTHREAD_STACKSIZE_MAIN=\(3*THREAD_STACKSIZE_DEFAULT\)
 # Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+DEVELHELP ?= 1
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/examples/ndn-ping/Makefile b/examples/ndn-ping/Makefile
index 5ede2e0afc..3617c686b3 100644
--- a/examples/ndn-ping/Makefile
+++ b/examples/ndn-ping/Makefile
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ USEPKG += ndn-riot
 # Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
 # which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
 # development process:
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
+DEVELHELP ?= 1
 
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
diff --git a/tests/driver_lc709203f/Makefile b/tests/driver_lc709203f/Makefile
index fb32efbe6d..97fcfcc8c2 100644
--- a/tests/driver_lc709203f/Makefile
+++ b/tests/driver_lc709203f/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,5 @@ include ../Makefile.tests_common
 
 USEMODULE += lc709203f
 USEMODULE += xtimer
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
diff --git a/tests/gnrc_gomach/Makefile b/tests/gnrc_gomach/Makefile
index c6dba1f96b..75685b6446 100644
--- a/tests/gnrc_gomach/Makefile
+++ b/tests/gnrc_gomach/Makefile
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@ include ../Makefile.tests_common
 # be then accordingly extended.
 BOARD_WHITELIST := samr21-xpro iotlab-m3
 
-# Comment this out to disable code in RIOT that does safety checking
-# which is not needed in a production environment but helps in the
-# development process:
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
-
 # Modules to include:
 USEMODULE += shell
 USEMODULE += shell_commands
diff --git a/tests/socket_zep/Makefile b/tests/socket_zep/Makefile
index c5959295f8..b4143a45bf 100644
--- a/tests/socket_zep/Makefile
+++ b/tests/socket_zep/Makefile
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ DISABLE_MODULE += auto_init
 USEMODULE += od
 USEMODULE += socket_zep
 
-CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
-
 TERMFLAGS ?= -z [::1]:17754
 
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include