diff --git a/boards/native/Makefile.include b/boards/native/Makefile.include
index e23dcdf117654..a15f3ab4925ed 100644
--- a/boards/native/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/native/Makefile.include
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ export ELF = $(BINDIR)$(PROJECT).elf
 # toolchain:
 export PREFIX =
 export CC ?= $(PREFIX)gcc
-export AR = $(PREFIX)ar
-export AS = $(PREFIX)as
-export LINK = $(PREFIX)gcc
-export SIZE = $(PREFIX)size
+export AR ?= $(PREFIX)ar
+export AS ?= $(PREFIX)as
+export LINK ?= $(PREFIX)gcc
+export SIZE ?= $(PREFIX)size
 export OBJCOPY = true
 
 export DEBUGGER = gdb
@@ -25,7 +25,15 @@ export GPROF ?= gprof
 
 # flags:
 export CFLAGS += -Wall -Wextra -pedantic -m32
-export LINKFLAGS += -m32 -gc -ldl
+ifeq ($(shell uname -s),FreeBSD)
+export CFLAGS += -DCOMPAT_32BIT -L/usr/lib32 -B/usr/lib32
+endif
+export LINKFLAGS += -m32 -gc
+ifeq ($(shell uname -s),FreeBSD)
+export LINKFLAGS += -DCOMPAT_32BIT -L/usr/lib32 -B/usr/lib32 -L $(BINDIR)
+else
+export LINKFLAGS += -ldl
+endif
 export ASFLAGS =
 export DEBUGGER_FLAGS = $(ELF)
 term-memcheck: export VALGRIND_FLAGS ?= --track-origins=yes
diff --git a/cpu/native/include/native_internal.h b/cpu/native/include/native_internal.h
index a55f20edd017e..09e5dd703e13e 100644
--- a/cpu/native/include/native_internal.h
+++ b/cpu/native/include/native_internal.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 #define _NATIVE_INTERNAL_H
 
 #include <signal.h>
+#
 
 /**
  * internal functions
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ int unregister_interrupt(int sig);
  * check here for more:
  * http://sourceforge.net/p/predef/wiki/OperatingSystems/
  */
-#ifdef BSD // BSD = (FreeBSD, Darwin, ...)
+#if (defined(__FreeBSD__) || defined(__MACH__))
 #ifndef _XOPEN_SOURCE
 #define _XOPEN_SOURCE
 #include <ucontext.h>
diff --git a/cpu/native/irq_cpu.c b/cpu/native/irq_cpu.c
index 2de537835cbc2..8d8785c371915 100644
--- a/cpu/native/irq_cpu.c
+++ b/cpu/native/irq_cpu.c
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ void native_isr_entry(int sig, siginfo_t *info, void *context)
 #ifdef __MACH__
     _native_saved_eip = ((ucontext_t *)context)->uc_mcontext->__ss.__eip;
     ((ucontext_t *)context)->uc_mcontext->__ss.__eip = (unsigned int)&_native_sig_leave_tramp;
-#elif BSD
+#elif defined(__FreeBSD__)
     _native_saved_eip = ((struct sigcontext *)context)->sc_eip;
     ((struct sigcontext *)context)->sc_eip = (unsigned int)&_native_sig_leave_tramp;
 #else
diff --git a/cpu/native/net/tap.c b/cpu/native/net/tap.c
index 03920dc211772..52ed19da21abc 100644
--- a/cpu/native/net/tap.c
+++ b/cpu/native/net/tap.c
@@ -31,6 +31,13 @@
 #undef _POSIX_C_SOURCE
 #include <ifaddrs.h>
 #include <net/if_dl.h>
+
+#elif defined(__FreeBSD__)
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <net/if.h>
+#include <ifaddrs.h>
+#include <net/if_dl.h>
+
 #else
 #include <net/if.h>
 #include <linux/if_tun.h>
@@ -232,6 +239,9 @@ int tap_init(char *name)
 #ifdef __MACH__ /* OSX */
     char clonedev[255] = "/dev/"; /* XXX bad size */
     strncpy(clonedev+5, name, 250);
+#elif defined(__FreeBSD__)
+    char clonedev[255] = "/dev/"; /* XXX bad size */
+    strncpy(clonedev+5, name, 250);
 #else /* Linux */
     struct ifreq ifr;
     const char *clonedev = "/dev/net/tun";
@@ -242,7 +252,7 @@ int tap_init(char *name)
         err(EXIT_FAILURE, "open(%s)", clonedev);
     }
 
-#ifdef __MACH__ /* OSX */
+#if (defined(__MACH__) || defined(__FreeBSD__)) /* OSX/FreeBSD */
     struct ifaddrs* iflist;
     if (getifaddrs(&iflist) == 0) {
         for (struct ifaddrs *cur = iflist; cur; cur = cur->ifa_next) {
diff --git a/cpu/native/syscalls.c b/cpu/native/syscalls.c
index 6e94aeba1bcb2..dd827dabeed67 100644
--- a/cpu/native/syscalls.c
+++ b/cpu/native/syscalls.c
@@ -163,6 +163,9 @@ ssize_t _native_write(int fd, const void *buf, size_t count)
     return r;
 }
 
+#if defined(__FreeBSD__)
+#undef putchar
+#endif
 int putchar(int c) {
     _native_write(STDOUT_FILENO, &c, 1);
     return 0;