diff --git a/makefiles/pseudomodules.inc.mk b/makefiles/pseudomodules.inc.mk
index b3558a71cf..fefb6e45f6 100644
--- a/makefiles/pseudomodules.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/pseudomodules.inc.mk
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ PSEUDOMODULES += cortexm_fpu
 PSEUDOMODULES += cortexm_svc
 PSEUDOMODULES += cpp
 PSEUDOMODULES += cpu_check_address
+PSEUDOMODULES += crc16_fast
 PSEUDOMODULES += crc32_fast
 PSEUDOMODULES += credman_load
 PSEUDOMODULES += dbgpin
diff --git a/sys/Makefile.dep b/sys/Makefile.dep
index f3e9837772..270b3816a5 100644
--- a/sys/Makefile.dep
+++ b/sys/Makefile.dep
@@ -49,6 +49,10 @@ ifneq (,$(filter congure_reno_methods,$(USEMODULE)))
   USEMODULE += seq
 endif
 
+ifneq (,$(filter crc16_fast,$(USEMODULE)))
+  USEMODULE += checksum
+endif
+
 ifneq (,$(filter crc32_fast,$(USEMODULE)))
   USEMODULE += checksum
 endif
diff --git a/sys/checksum/crc16_ccitt.c b/sys/checksum/crc16_ccitt.c
index 5f8f30b9ce..d6b3cdb6a7 100644
--- a/sys/checksum/crc16_ccitt.c
+++ b/sys/checksum/crc16_ccitt.c
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
+#include "byteorder.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 #include "checksum/crc16_ccitt.h"
 
 static const uint16_t crc_ccitt_lookuptable[256] = {
@@ -96,7 +98,16 @@ static const uint16_t _crc16_ccitt_false_lookuptable[256] = {
 uint16_t crc16_ccitt_kermit_update(uint16_t crc, const unsigned char *buf, size_t len)
 {
     while (len--) {
-        crc = (crc >> 8) ^ crc_ccitt_lookuptable[(crc ^ (*buf++)) & 0xff];
+        uint8_t e = crc ^= *buf++;
+        if (IS_USED(MODULE_CRC16_FAST)) {
+            crc = (crc >> 8) ^ crc_ccitt_lookuptable[e];
+        } else {
+            uint8_t f = e ^ (e << 4);
+            crc = (crc >> 8)
+                ^ ((uint16_t)f << 8)
+                ^ ((uint16_t)f << 3)
+                ^ ((uint16_t)f >> 4);
+        }
     }
 
     return crc;
@@ -115,7 +126,14 @@ uint16_t crc16_ccitt_mcrf4xx_calc(const unsigned char *buf, size_t len)
 uint16_t crc16_ccitt_false_update(uint16_t crc, const unsigned char *buf, size_t len)
 {
     while (len--) {
-        crc = ((crc << 8) ^ _crc16_ccitt_false_lookuptable[((crc >> 8) ^ ((*buf++) & 0x00FF))]);
+        crc = byteorder_swaps(crc) ^ *buf++;
+        if (IS_USED(MODULE_CRC16_FAST)) {
+            crc = (crc & 0xFF00) ^ _crc16_ccitt_false_lookuptable[crc & 0xFF];
+        } else {
+            crc ^= (uint8_t)(crc & 0xff) >> 4;
+            crc ^= (crc << 8) << 4;
+            crc ^= ((crc & 0xff) << 4) << 1;
+        }
     }
 
     return crc;
diff --git a/sys/include/checksum/crc16_ccitt.h b/sys/include/checksum/crc16_ccitt.h
index b884ed2bfa..14ad802b2e 100644
--- a/sys/include/checksum/crc16_ccitt.h
+++ b/sys/include/checksum/crc16_ccitt.h
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
  *              do (and is thus also far more memory efficient). Its caveat
  *              however is that it is slower by about factor 8 than these versions.
  *
+ *              @note enable the `crc32_fast` module for a look-up table based
+ *              implementation that trades code size for speed.
+ *
  * @{
  * @file
  * @author      Ludwig Knüpfer <ludwig.knuepfer@fu-berlin.de>