diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index 9c45a7440fd0..b50a1ef3a835 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -407,6 +407,11 @@ ELFFILE ?= $(BINDIR)/$(APPLICATION).elf
 HEXFILE ?= $(ELFFILE:.elf=.hex)
 BINFILE ?= $(ELFFILE:.elf=.bin)
 
+# include bootloaders support. It should be included early to allow using
+# variables defined in `riotboot.mk` for `FLASHFILE` before it is evaluated.
+# It should be included after defining 'BINFILE' for 'riotboot.bin' handling.
+include $(RIOTMAKE)/boot/riotboot.mk
+
 # Targets to get given file
 elffile: $(ELFFILE)
 hexfile: $(HEXFILE)
@@ -442,11 +447,6 @@ else
   _LINK = $(if $(CPPMIX),$(LINKXX),$(LINK)) $(UNDEF) $(LINKFLAGPREFIX)--start-group $(BASELIBS) -lm $(LINKFLAGPREFIX)--end-group $(LINKFLAGS) $(LINKFLAGPREFIX)-Map=$(BINDIR)/$(APPLICATION).map
 endif # BUILDOSXNATIVE
 
-# include bootloaders support. When trying to overwrite one variable
-# like HEXFILE, the value will already have been evaluated when declaring
-# the link target. Therefore, it must be placed before `link`.
-include $(RIOTMAKE)/boot/riotboot.mk
-
 ifeq ($(BUILD_IN_DOCKER),1)
 link: ..in-docker-container
 else
diff --git a/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk b/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk
index 96201509a77b..7db04d4b5271 100644
--- a/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk
+++ b/makefiles/boot/riotboot.mk
@@ -35,8 +35,7 @@ SLOT0_RIOT_BIN = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0.riot.bin
 SLOT1_RIOT_BIN = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot1.riot.bin
 SLOT_RIOT_BINS = $(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN) $(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN)
 
-# For slot generation only link is needed
-$(BINDIR_APP)-%.elf: link
+$(BINDIR_APP)-%.elf: $(BASELIBS)
 	$(Q)$(_LINK) -o $@
 
 # Slot 0 and 1 firmware offset, after header
@@ -118,9 +117,12 @@ riotboot/flash-extended-slot0: HEXFILE=$(RIOTBOOT_EXTENDED_BIN)
 # Flashing rule for openocd to flash combined/extended binaries
 riotboot/flash-combined-slot0: ELFFILE=$(RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN)
 riotboot/flash-extended-slot0: ELFFILE=$(RIOTBOOT_EXTENDED_BIN)
+
+riotboot/flash-combined-slot0: FLASHFILE=$(RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN)
 riotboot/flash-combined-slot0: $(RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN) $(FLASHDEPS)
 	$(FLASHER) $(FFLAGS)
 
+riotboot/flash-extended-slot0: FLASHFILE=$(RIOTBOOT_EXTENDED_BIN)
 riotboot/flash-extended-slot0: $(RIOTBOOT_EXTENDED_BIN) $(FLASHDEPS)
 	$(FLASHER) $(FFLAGS)
 
@@ -130,6 +132,7 @@ riotboot/flash-slot0: export IMAGE_OFFSET=$(SLOT0_OFFSET)
 riotboot/flash-slot0: HEXFILE=$(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN)
 # openocd
 riotboot/flash-slot0: ELFFILE=$(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN)
+riotboot/flash-slot0: FLASHFILE=$(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN)
 riotboot/flash-slot0: $(SLOT0_RIOT_BIN) $(FLASHDEPS)
 	$(FLASHER) $(FFLAGS)
 
@@ -139,6 +142,7 @@ riotboot/flash-slot1: export IMAGE_OFFSET=$(SLOT1_OFFSET)
 riotboot/flash-slot1: HEXFILE=$(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN)
 # openocd
 riotboot/flash-slot1: ELFFILE=$(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN)
+riotboot/flash-slot1: FLASHFILE=$(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN)
 riotboot/flash-slot1: $(SLOT1_RIOT_BIN) $(FLASHDEPS)
 	$(FLASHER) $(FFLAGS)
 
diff --git a/tests/riotboot/Makefile b/tests/riotboot/Makefile
index c4b90fa4e379..bbc57adf1316 100644
--- a/tests/riotboot/Makefile
+++ b/tests/riotboot/Makefile
@@ -18,17 +18,15 @@ DEVELHELP ?= 1
 # Change this to 0 show compiler invocation lines by default:
 QUIET ?= 1
 
-all: riotboot
+# Target 'all' will generate the combined file directly.
+# It also makes 'flash' and 'flash-only' work without specific command.
+FLASHFILE = $(RIOTBOOT_COMBINED_BIN)
 
 include ../Makefile.tests_common
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
 
-# Make 'flash' and 'flash-only' work without specific command.
-# This is currently hacky as there is no way of specifiying a FLASHFILE
-all: riotboot/combined-slot0
+# This is currently hacky as the flasher are not using 'FLASHFILE'
 # openocd
-ELFFILE = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0-combined.bin
+ELFFILE = $(FLASHFILE)
 # edbg
-HEXFILE = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0-combined.bin
-# murdock uses ':=' to get the flashfile variable so should also be overwritten
-FLASHFILE = $(BINDIR_APP)-slot0-combined.bin
+HEXFILE = $(FLASHFILE)