diff --git a/cpu/esp32/ld/esp32.common.ld b/cpu/esp32/ld/esp32.common.ld
index 5d78197af2..277a31896e 100644
--- a/cpu/esp32/ld/esp32.common.ld
+++ b/cpu/esp32/ld/esp32.common.ld
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ SECTIONS
     _data_start = ABSOLUTE(.);
     *(.data)
     *(.data.*)
+    KEEP (*(SORT(.xfa.*)))
     *(.gnu.linkonce.d.*)
     *(.data1)
     *(.sdata)
@@ -243,6 +244,7 @@ SECTIONS
     _rodata_start = ABSOLUTE(.);
     *(.rodata)
     *(.rodata.*)
+    KEEP (*(SORT(.roxfa.*)))
     *(.irom1.text) /* catch stray ICACHE_RODATA_ATTR */
     *(.gnu.linkonce.r.*)
     *(.rodata1)
diff --git a/cpu/esp32/ld/xfa.ld b/cpu/esp32/ld/xfa.ld
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..76aa43de62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cpu/esp32/ld/xfa.ld
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/* empty file overriding core/ldscripts/xda.ld */