diff --git a/tests/shell/main.c b/tests/shell/main.c
index b2bdc096a0..ffdbf4a8a6 100644
--- a/tests/shell/main.c
+++ b/tests/shell/main.c
@@ -56,7 +56,17 @@ static int print_echo(int argc, char **argv)
     return 0;
 }
 
+static int print_shell_bufsize(int argc, char **argv)
+{
+    (void) argc;
+    (void) argv;
+    printf("%d\n", SHELL_DEFAULT_BUFSIZE);
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 static const shell_command_t shell_commands[] = {
+    { "bufsize", "Get the shell's buffer size", print_shell_bufsize },
     { "start_test", "starts a test", print_teststart },
     { "end_test", "ends a test", print_testend },
     { "echo", "prints the input command", print_echo },
diff --git a/tests/shell/tests/01-run.py b/tests/shell/tests/01-run.py
index a93cc23d63..869f4f4776 100755
--- a/tests/shell/tests/01-run.py
+++ b/tests/shell/tests/01-run.py
@@ -63,7 +63,17 @@ def check_cmd(child, cmd, expected):
         child.expect_exact(line)
 
 
+def check_and_get_bufsize(child):
+    child.sendline('bufsize')
+    child.expect('([0-9]+)\r\n')
+    bufsize = int(child.match.group(1))
+
+    return bufsize
+
+
 def testfunc(child):
+    bufsize = check_and_get_bufsize(child)
+
     # loop other defined commands and expected output
     for cmd, expected in CMDS:
         check_cmd(child, cmd, expected)