diff --git a/cpu/cortexm_common/include/cpu.h b/cpu/cortexm_common/include/cpu.h
index 2d3d7aa701d9b..b0e95f5046e40 100644
--- a/cpu/cortexm_common/include/cpu.h
+++ b/cpu/cortexm_common/include/cpu.h
@@ -41,6 +41,15 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+/**
+ * @brief   Set this to 1 to disable all sleep (useful for debugging)
+ *
+ * Example: CFLAGS=-DCPU_NOSLEEP make flash
+ */
+#ifndef CPU_NOSLEEP
+#define CPU_NOSLEEP 0
+#endif
+
 /**
  * @brief Interrupt stack canary value
  *
@@ -96,6 +105,9 @@ static inline void cortexm_sleep_until_event(void)
  */
 static inline void cortexm_sleep(int deep)
 {
+    if (CPU_NOSLEEP) {
+        return;
+    }
     if (deep) {
         SCB->SCR |=  (SCB_SCR_SLEEPDEEP_Msk);
     }