diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index befb9d8647..18f272c6d6 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -570,6 +570,16 @@ define check_cmd
 	    exit 1;}
 endef
 
+# Check if setsid command is available on the system for debug target
+# This is not the case on MacOSX, so it must be built on the fly
+ifneq (,$(filter debug, $(MAKECMDGOALS)))
+  ifneq (0,$(shell which setsid 2>&1 > /dev/null ; echo $$?))
+    SETSID = $(RIOTTOOLS)/setsid/setsid
+    $(call target-export-variables,debug,$(SETSID))
+    DEBUGDEPS += $(SETSID)
+  endif
+endif
+
 ..compiler-check:
 	$(call check_cmd,$(CC),Compiler)
 
@@ -643,7 +653,7 @@ list-ttys:
 doc:
 	make -BC $(RIOTBASE) doc
 
-debug:
+debug: $(DEBUGDEPS)
 	$(call check_cmd,$(DEBUGGER),Debug program)
 	$(DEBUGGER) $(DEBUGGER_FLAGS)
 
diff --git a/boards/common/arduino-atmega/dist/debug.sh b/boards/common/arduino-atmega/dist/debug.sh
index 0b10852f20..46dc7377ca 100644
--- a/boards/common/arduino-atmega/dist/debug.sh
+++ b/boards/common/arduino-atmega/dist/debug.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# The setsid command is needed so that Ctrl+C in GDB doesn't kill avarice
+: ${SETSID:=setsid}
+
 sleep 2
-setsid -w avarice $1 &
+${SETSID} -w avarice $1 &
 #sleep 2 && $2/avr-gdb-wrapper -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
 sleep 3 && avr-gdb -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
 
diff --git a/boards/mega-xplained/dist/debug.sh b/boards/mega-xplained/dist/debug.sh
index 0b10852f20..46dc7377ca 100755
--- a/boards/mega-xplained/dist/debug.sh
+++ b/boards/mega-xplained/dist/debug.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# The setsid command is needed so that Ctrl+C in GDB doesn't kill avarice
+: ${SETSID:=setsid}
+
 sleep 2
-setsid -w avarice $1 &
+${SETSID} -w avarice $1 &
 #sleep 2 && $2/avr-gdb-wrapper -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
 sleep 3 && avr-gdb -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
 
diff --git a/boards/waspmote-pro/dist/debug.sh b/boards/waspmote-pro/dist/debug.sh
index 0b10852f20..46dc7377ca 100755
--- a/boards/waspmote-pro/dist/debug.sh
+++ b/boards/waspmote-pro/dist/debug.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# The setsid command is needed so that Ctrl+C in GDB doesn't kill avarice
+: ${SETSID:=setsid}
+
 sleep 2
-setsid -w avarice $1 &
+${SETSID} -w avarice $1 &
 #sleep 2 && $2/avr-gdb-wrapper -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
 sleep 3 && avr-gdb -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/setsid/.gitignore b/dist/tools/setsid/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3dd9233a7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dist/tools/setsid/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+setsid
+bin
diff --git a/dist/tools/setsid/Makefile b/dist/tools/setsid/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..164392026f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dist/tools/setsid/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+PKG_NAME     = setsid
+PKG_URL      = https://github.com/tzvetkoff/setsid-macosx
+PKG_VERSION  = e5b851df41591021baf5cf88d4e41572baf8e08b
+PKG_LICENSE  = BSD-2-Clause
+PKG_BUILDDIR = $(CURDIR)/bin
+
+.PHONY: all
+
+all: git-download
+	@echo "[INFO] compiling setsid from source now"
+	$(MAKE) BINDIR=$(PKG_BUILDDIR) -C $(PKG_BUILDDIR)
+	@mv $(PKG_BUILDDIR)/setsid $(CURDIR)/setsid
+
+distclean::
+	@rm -f $(CURDIR)/setsid
+
+include $(RIOTBASE)/pkg/pkg.mk
diff --git a/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk
index f80fa73b31..baf9dd864f 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/targets.inc.mk
@@ -29,3 +29,8 @@ $(RIOTTOOLS)/mosquitto_rsmb/mosquitto_rsmb:
 
 mosquitto_rsmb: $(RIOTTOOLS)/mosquitto_rsmb/mosquitto_rsmb
 	@make -C $(RIOTTOOLS)/mosquitto_rsmb run
+
+$(RIOTTOOLS)/setsid/setsid: $(RIOTTOOLS)/setsid/Makefile
+	@echo "[INFO] setsid binary not found - building it from source now"
+	@make -C $(RIOTTOOLS)/setsid
+	@echo "[INFO] setsid binary successfully build!"
diff --git a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
index f2bfcc5557..135bd81605 100644
--- a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ export USEPKG                # Pkg dependencies (third party modules) of the app
 export DISABLE_MODULE        # Used in the application's Makefile to suppress DEFAULT_MODULEs.
 export APPDEPS               # Files / Makefile targets that need to be created before the application can be build. Set in the application's Makefile.
 # BUILDDEPS                  # Files / Makefile targets that need to be created before starting to build.
+# DEBUGDEPS                  # Files / Makefile targets that need to be created before starting a debug session.
 
 export RIOTBASE              # The root folder of RIOT. The folder where this very file lives in.
 export RIOTCPU               # For third party CPUs this folder is the base of the CPUs.