diff --git a/dist/tools/esptools/export.sh b/dist/tools/esptools/export.sh
index b64cf332a5..f3ab4d58f4 100755
--- a/dist/tools/esptools/export.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/esptools/export.sh
@@ -5,17 +5,6 @@ ESP32_GCC_VERSION_DIR="8.4.0"
 
 ESP32_OPENOCD_VERSION="v0.11.0-esp32-20211220"
 
-# qemu version depends on the version of ncurses lib
-if [ "$(ldconfig -p | grep libncursesw.so.6)" != "" ]; then
-    ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20220203"
-else
-    ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20210220"
-fi
-
-if [ -z ${IDF_TOOLS_PATH} ]; then
-    IDF_TOOLS_PATH=${HOME}/.espressif
-fi
-
 TOOLS_PATH=${IDF_TOOLS_PATH}/tools
 
 export_arch()
@@ -67,6 +56,33 @@ export_openocd()
 
 export_qemu()
 {
+    # determine the platform using python
+    PLATFORM_SYSTEM=$(python3 -c "import platform; print(platform.system())")
+    PLATFORM_MACHINE=$(python3 -c "import platform; print(platform.machine())")
+    PLATFORM=${PLATFORM_SYSTEM}-${PLATFORM_MACHINE}
+
+    # map different platform names to a unique OS name
+    case ${PLATFORM} in
+        linux-amd64|linux64|Linux-x86_64|FreeBSD-amd64)
+            OS=linux-amd64
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "error: OS architecture ${PLATFORM} not supported"
+            exit 1
+            ;;
+    esac
+
+    # qemu version depends on the version of ncurses lib
+    if [ "$(ldconfig -p | grep libncursesw.so.6)" != "" ]; then
+        ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20220203"
+    else
+        ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20210220"
+    fi
+
+    if [ -z ${IDF_TOOLS_PATH} ]; then
+        IDF_TOOLS_PATH=${HOME}/.espressif
+    fi
+
     TOOLS_DIR=${TOOLS_PATH}/qemu-esp32/${ESP32_QEMU_VERSION}/qemu
     TOOLS_DIR_IN_PATH=`echo $PATH | grep ${TOOLS_DIR}`
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/esptools/install.sh b/dist/tools/esptools/install.sh
index 17ce3a4570..a3ef5055b4 100755
--- a/dist/tools/esptools/install.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/esptools/install.sh
@@ -7,13 +7,6 @@ ESP32_GCC_VERSION_DOWNLOAD="gcc8_4_0"
 ESP32_OPENOCD_VERSION="v0.11.0-esp32-20211220"
 ESP32_OPENOCD_VERSION_TGZ="0.11.0-esp32-20211220"
 
-# qemu version depends on the version of ncurses lib
-if [ "$(ldconfig -p | grep libncursesw.so.6)" != "" ]; then
-    ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20220203"
-else
-    ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20210220"
-fi
-
 # set the tool path to the default if not already set
 if [ -z ${IDF_TOOLS_PATH} ]; then
     IDF_TOOLS_PATH=${HOME}/.espressif
@@ -59,6 +52,9 @@ case ${PLATFORM} in
     linux-i686|linux32|Linux-i686|FreeBSD-i386)
         OS=linux-i686
         ;;
+    Darwin-x86_64)
+        OS=macos
+        ;;
     *)
         echo "error: OS architecture ${PLATFORM} not supported"
         exit 1
@@ -141,6 +137,13 @@ install_qemu()
         exit 1
     fi
 
+    # qemu version depends on the version of ncurses lib
+    if [ "$(ldconfig -p | grep libncursesw.so.6)" != "" ]; then
+        ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20220203"
+    else
+        ESP32_QEMU_VERSION="esp-develop-20210220"
+    fi
+
     TOOLS_DIR=${TOOLS_PATH}/qemu-esp32/${ESP32_QEMU_VERSION}
 
     URL_PATH=https://github.com/espressif/qemu/releases/download