diff --git a/boards/common/esp32/board_common.c b/boards/common/esp32/board_common.c
index d393f6e5f8..42a05e2e01 100644
--- a/boards/common/esp32/board_common.c
+++ b/boards/common/esp32/board_common.c
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
  extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-void board_init(void)
+void board_init_common(void)
 {
     #ifdef LED0_PIN
     gpio_init (LED0_PIN, GPIO_OUT);
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ extern void spi_print_config(void);
 extern void uart_print_config(void);
 extern void can_print_config(void);
 
-void print_board_config (void)
+void print_board_config(void)
 {
     ets_printf("\nBoard configuration:\n");
 
diff --git a/boards/common/esp32/include/board_common.h b/boards/common/esp32/include/board_common.h
index a81ffd7c2f..f033a4a6a4 100644
--- a/boards/common/esp32/include/board_common.h
+++ b/boards/common/esp32/include/board_common.h
@@ -150,23 +150,37 @@ extern mtd_dev_t *mtd0;
 
 
 /**
- * @brief Initialize board specific hardware
+ * @brief Initialize the hardware that is common for all ESP32 boards.
  *
- * Since all features of ESP32 boards are provided by the SOC, almost all
- * initializations are done during the CPU initialization that is called from
- * boot loader.
+ * This function has to be called from the board specific `board_init` function.
  */
-void board_init (void);
+void board_init_common(void);
 
 /**
   * @brief Print the board configuration in a human readable format
   */
-void print_board_config (void);
+void print_board_config(void);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 } /* end extern "C" */
 #endif
 
+#else /* ESP32_IDF_CODE */
+
+#ifndef DOXYGEN
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C"
+#endif
+
+/* declaration of `board_init_common` is required when compiling vendor code */
+extern void board_init_common(void);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* DOXYGEN */
 #endif /* ESP32_IDF_CODE */
 #endif /* BOARD_COMMON_H */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/boards/esp32-mh-et-live-minikit/include/board.h b/boards/esp32-mh-et-live-minikit/include/board.h
index ca1a91ff4a..5efe74313a 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-mh-et-live-minikit/include/board.h
+++ b/boards/esp32-mh-et-live-minikit/include/board.h
@@ -58,5 +58,13 @@
 /* include definitions for optional hardware modules */
 #include "board_modules.h"
 
+/**
+ * @brief Initialize the board specific hardware
+ */
+static inline void board_init(void) {
+    /* there is nothing special to initialize on this board */
+    board_init_common();
+}
+
 #endif /* BOARD_H */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/boards/esp32-olimex-evb/include/board.h b/boards/esp32-olimex-evb/include/board.h
index b46ba658d5..4233bede75 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-olimex-evb/include/board.h
+++ b/boards/esp32-olimex-evb/include/board.h
@@ -98,6 +98,14 @@ extern "C" {
 /* include common board definitions as last step */
 #include "board_common.h"
 
+/**
+ * @brief Initialize the board specific hardware
+ */
+static inline void board_init(void) {
+    /* there is nothing special to initialize on this board */
+    board_init_common();
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 } /* end extern "C" */
 #endif
diff --git a/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/Makefile.dep b/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/Makefile.dep
index 29d6c99ba8..6c6d30e82b 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/Makefile.dep
+++ b/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/Makefile.dep
@@ -1 +1,5 @@
+ifneq (,$(filter esp32_ttgo_t_beam_v1_0,$(USEMODULE)))
+  FEATURES_REQUIRED += periph_i2c
+endif
+
 include $(RIOTBOARD)/common/esp32/Makefile.dep
diff --git a/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/board.c b/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/board.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3ec4007657
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/board.c
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2019 Gunar Schorcht
+ *
+ * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
+ * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
+ * directory for more details.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup     boards_esp32_ttgo-t-beam
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief       Board specific definitions for TTGO T-Beam board
+ *
+ * @author      Gunar Schorcht <gunar@schorcht.net>
+ */
+
+#include "board.h"
+
+#if MODULE_ESP32_TTGO_T_BEAM_V1_0
+#include "periph/i2c.h"
+#endif
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+ extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+#define AXP192_I2C_ADDR         (0x34)
+#define AXP192_LDO234_DC23_CTL  (0x12)
+#define AXP192_LDO3OUT_VOL      (0x29)
+#define AXP192_LDO3_ON_BIT      (1 << 3)
+
+void board_init(void)
+{
+    board_init_common();
+
+#if MODULE_ESP32_TTGO_T_BEAM_V1_0
+    uint8_t reg;
+
+    i2c_acquire(I2C_DEV(0));
+    /* enable the LDO3 power control */
+    i2c_read_reg(I2C_DEV(0), AXP192_I2C_ADDR, AXP192_LDO234_DC23_CTL, &reg, 0);
+    reg |= AXP192_LDO3_ON_BIT;
+    i2c_write_reg(I2C_DEV(0), AXP192_I2C_ADDR, AXP192_LDO234_DC23_CTL, reg, 0);
+    /* set the output voltage to 3V3 */
+    i2c_write_reg(I2C_DEV(0), AXP192_I2C_ADDR, AXP192_LDO3OUT_VOL, 0xff, 0);
+    i2c_release(I2C_DEV(0));
+#endif
+}
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+} /* end extern "C" */
+#endif
+
+/** @} */
diff --git a/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/include/board.h b/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/include/board.h
index 45759d88e1..80fee9be7e 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/include/board.h
+++ b/boards/esp32-ttgo-t-beam/include/board.h
@@ -79,5 +79,10 @@
 /* include common board definitions as last step */
 #include "board_common.h"
 
+/**
+ * @brief Initialize the board specific hardware
+ */
+void board_init(void);
+
 #endif /* BOARD_H */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/boards/esp32-wemos-lolin-d32-pro/include/board.h b/boards/esp32-wemos-lolin-d32-pro/include/board.h
index dbab5be37b..330d2970ed 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-wemos-lolin-d32-pro/include/board.h
+++ b/boards/esp32-wemos-lolin-d32-pro/include/board.h
@@ -80,5 +80,13 @@
 /* include common board definitions as last step */
 #include "board_common.h"
 
+/**
+ * @brief Initialize the board specific hardware
+ */
+static inline void board_init(void) {
+    /* there is nothing special to initialize on this board */
+    board_init_common();
+}
+
 #endif /* BOARD_H */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/boards/esp32-wroom-32/include/board.h b/boards/esp32-wroom-32/include/board.h
index d7ed1d6ecf..3ff7e5f03a 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-wroom-32/include/board.h
+++ b/boards/esp32-wroom-32/include/board.h
@@ -64,5 +64,13 @@
 /* include common board definitions as last step */
 #include "board_common.h"
 
+/**
+ * @brief Initialize the board specific hardware
+ */
+static inline void board_init(void) {
+    /* there is nothing special to initialize on this board */
+    board_init_common();
+}
+
 #endif /* BOARD_H */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/boards/esp32-wrover-kit/include/board.h b/boards/esp32-wrover-kit/include/board.h
index def0ed0951..ab559e0be3 100644
--- a/boards/esp32-wrover-kit/include/board.h
+++ b/boards/esp32-wrover-kit/include/board.h
@@ -108,5 +108,13 @@
 /* include common board definitions as last step */
 #include "board_common.h"
 
+/**
+ * @brief Initialize the board specific hardware
+ */
+static inline void board_init(void) {
+    /* there is nothing special to initialize on this board */
+    board_init_common();
+}
+
 #endif /* BOARD_H */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/cpu/esp32/startup.c b/cpu/esp32/startup.c
index ea34aca6db..2c0e788f25 100644
--- a/cpu/esp32/startup.c
+++ b/cpu/esp32/startup.c
@@ -319,9 +319,6 @@ static NORETURN void IRAM system_init (void)
     LOG_STARTUP("Heap free: %u bytes\n", get_free_heap_size());
     uart_tx_wait_idle(CONFIG_CONSOLE_UART_NUM);
 
-    /* initialize the board */
-    board_init();
-
     /* initialize stdio */
     stdio_init();
 
@@ -346,6 +343,9 @@ static NORETURN void IRAM system_init (void)
     spi_flash_drive_init();
     #endif
 
+    /* initialize the board */
+    board_init();
+
     /* route a software interrupt source to CPU as trigger for thread yields */
     intr_matrix_set(PRO_CPU_NUM, ETS_FROM_CPU_INTR0_SOURCE, CPU_INUM_SOFTWARE);
     /* set thread yield handler and enable the software interrupt */