diff --git a/boards/common/frdm/Makefile.include b/boards/common/frdm/Makefile.include
index d147a04baf..2cf811ce4f 100644
--- a/boards/common/frdm/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/common/frdm/Makefile.include
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ export DEBUG_ADAPTER ?= dap
 #export DEBUG_ADAPTER ?= jlink
 
 # OpenOCD v0.10.0 and newer have built-in support for disabling the Kinetis
-# watchdog automatically. However, current stable releases of Ubuntu and Debian
-# have only version 0.9.0 and older OpenOCD packages (Ubuntu 17.04, Debian Jessie)
-# Set this to 0 to avoid the extra manual step of disabling the watchdog.
-export USE_OLD_OPENOCD ?= 1
+# watchdog automatically. Some older releases of Ubuntu and Debian have only
+# version 0.9.0 or earlier OpenOCD packages (Ubuntu 17.04, Debian Jessie)
+# Set this to 1 if you are using one of these older releases.
+USE_OLD_OPENOCD ?= 0
 
 ifeq (1,$(USE_OLD_OPENOCD))
 # We need special handling of the watchdog if we want to speed up the flash
diff --git a/boards/frdm-kw41z/Makefile.include b/boards/frdm-kw41z/Makefile.include
index 730c8887d3..6fde7c11b6 100644
--- a/boards/frdm-kw41z/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/frdm-kw41z/Makefile.include
@@ -2,10 +2,6 @@
 export CPU = kinetis
 export CPU_MODEL = mkw41z512vht4
 
-# OpenOCD v0.10.0-dev (current development version) or later is required for
-# flashing KW41Z devices
-# See http://openocd.zylin.com/#/c/4104/ for the upstreaming process
-export USE_OLD_OPENOCD ?= 0
 # This board comes with OpenSDA configured for JLink compatibility
 export DEBUG_ADAPTER ?= jlink