diff --git a/sys/include/net/coap.h b/sys/include/net/coap.h
index fabc099b3b..8d72940ce1 100644
--- a/sys/include/net/coap.h
+++ b/sys/include/net/coap.h
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ extern "C" {
  */
 #define COAP_PORT               (5683)
 
+#define COAP_V1                 (1)     /**< Identifier for CoAP version 1 (RFC 7252) */
+
 /**
  * @name    CoAP option numbers
  * @{
diff --git a/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c b/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c
index 2fb397e34a..873b7705ac 100644
--- a/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c
+++ b/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ ssize_t coap_build_hdr(coap_hdr_t *hdr, unsigned type, uint8_t *token, size_t to
     assert(!(token_len & ~0x1f));
 
     memset(hdr, 0, sizeof(coap_hdr_t));
-    hdr->ver_t_tkl = (0x1 << 6) | (type << 4) | token_len;
+    hdr->ver_t_tkl = (COAP_V1 << 6) | (type << 4) | token_len;
     hdr->code = code;
     hdr->id = htons(id);