diff --git a/cpu/esp32/Makefile.include b/cpu/esp32/Makefile.include
index 12a4be6e1778..79159f1939ab 100644
--- a/cpu/esp32/Makefile.include
+++ b/cpu/esp32/Makefile.include
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ else ifneq (,$(filter esp32s2,$(CPU_FAM)))
 else
   $(error Unkwnown ESP32x SoC variant (family))
 endif
+FLASHFILE_POS ?= 0x10000
 
 ESPTOOL ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/esptools/esptool_v3.2.py
 
@@ -151,6 +152,19 @@ else ifeq (120m,$(FLASH_FREQ))
   CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHFREQ_120M
 endif
 
+#extend CFLAGS by the corresponding FLASH_SIZE
+ifeq (1,$(FLASH_SIZE))
+  CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHSIZE_1MB
+else ifeq (2,$(FLASH_SIZE))
+  CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHSIZE_2MB
+else ifeq (4,$(FLASH_SIZE))
+  CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHSIZE_4MB
+else ifeq (8,$(FLASH_SIZE))
+  CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHSIZE_8MB
+else ifeq (16,$(FLASH_SIZE))
+  CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_ESPTOOLPY_FLASHSIZE_16MB
+endif
+
 # shortcuts used by ESP-IDF
 CFLAGS += -Dasm=__asm
 CFLAGS += -Dtypeof=__typeof__
@@ -244,7 +258,7 @@ ifneq (,$(filter esp_jtag,$(USEMODULE)))
     -c 'flash write_image erase "$(BOOTLOADER_BIN)" $(BOOTLOADER_POS) bin' \
     -c 'echo "Installing partition table at $(PARTITION_POS)"' \
     -c 'flash write_image erase "$(BINDIR)/partitions.bin" $(PARTITION_POS) bin'
-  IMAGE_OFFSET = 0x10000
+  IMAGE_OFFSET = $(FLASHFILE_POS)
   # Flash checksumming not supported on xtensa
   OPENOCD_SKIP_VERIFY = yes
   # Without resets debug target fails with 'Target not examined yet'
diff --git a/cpu/esp8266/Makefile.include b/cpu/esp8266/Makefile.include
index daa32a61cd6d..898b5d668f8b 100644
--- a/cpu/esp8266/Makefile.include
+++ b/cpu/esp8266/Makefile.include
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ FLASH_MODE  = dout
 FLASH_FREQ  = 26m
 FLASH_SIZE ?= 1
 BOOTLOADER_POS = 0x0000
+FLASHFILE_POS = 0x10000
 
 include $(RIOTCPU)/esp_common/Makefile.include
 
diff --git a/cpu/esp_common/Makefile.include b/cpu/esp_common/Makefile.include
index 15538f9a6916..c86316f29881 100644
--- a/cpu/esp_common/Makefile.include
+++ b/cpu/esp_common/Makefile.include
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@ $(ELFFILE).bin: $(ELFFILE)
 		--flash_size $(FLASH_SIZE)MB --flash_freq $(FLASH_FREQ) $(FLASH_OPTS) \
 		-o $@ $<
 
-
 # Convert .elf and .csv to .bin files at build time, but make them available for
 # tests at flash time. These can't be added to FLASHDEPS because they depend on
 # on ELFFILE and would trigger a rebuild with "flash-only".
@@ -155,7 +154,7 @@ $(BINDIR)/partitions.csv: $(FLASHFILE)
 	$(Q)printf "\n" > $(BINDIR)/partitions.csv
 	$(Q)printf "nvs, data, nvs, 0x9000, 0x6000\n" >> $@
 	$(Q)printf "phy_init, data, phy, 0xf000, 0x1000\n" >> $@
-	$(Q)printf "factory, app, factory, 0x10000, " >> $@
+	$(Q)printf "factory, app, factory, $(FLASHFILE_POS), " >> $@
 	$(Q)ls -l $< | awk '{ print $$5 }' >> $@
 
 $(BINDIR)/partitions.bin: $(PARTITION_TABLE_CSV)
diff --git a/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk
index ef632d35db5c..900d73bdea5f 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/esptool.inc.mk
@@ -32,19 +32,19 @@ else
   FFLAGS += --flash_size detect
   FFLAGS += $(BOOTLOADER_POS) $(BOOTLOADER_BIN)
   FFLAGS += 0x8000 $(BINDIR)/partitions.bin
-  FFLAGS += 0x10000 $(FLASHFILE)
+  FFLAGS += $(FLASHFILE_POS) $(FLASHFILE)
 endif
 
 .PHONY: esp-qemu
 
-esp-qemu:
+esp-qemu: $(FLASHFILE)
 ifeq (esp32,$(CPU))
 	$(Q)echo \
 		"--flash_mode $(FLASH_MODE) --flash_freq $(FLASH_FREQ) " \
 		"--flash_size $(FLASH_SIZE)MB" \
 		"$(BOOTLOADER_POS) $(BOOTLOADER_BIN)" \
 		"0x8000 $(BINDIR)/partitions.bin" \
-		"0x10000 $(FLASHFILE)" > $(BINDIR)/qemu_flash_args
+		"$(FLASHFILE_POS) $(FLASHFILE)" > $(BINDIR)/qemu_flash_args
 	$(Q)$(ESPTOOL) \
 		--chip $(CPU_FAM) merge_bin \
 		--fill-flash-size 4MB \
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ else
 		cat - $(BOOTLOADER_BIN) tmp.bin | \
 		head -c $$((0x8000)) | \
 		cat - $(BINDIR)/partitions.bin tmp.bin | \
-		head -c $$((0x10000)) | \
+		head -c $$(($(FLASHFILE_POS))) | \
 		cat - $(FLASHFILE) tmp.bin | \
 		head -c $(FLASH_SIZE)MB > $(BINDIR)/$(CPU)flash.bin && rm tmp.bin
 endif