diff --git a/dist/tools/ci/print_toolchain_versions.sh b/dist/tools/ci/print_toolchain_versions.sh
index 49abec1f07..e2dd6c2d0b 100755
--- a/dist/tools/ci/print_toolchain_versions.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/ci/print_toolchain_versions.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 MAKE=${MAKE:-make}
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/coccinelle/check.sh b/dist/tools/coccinelle/check.sh
index 73b7bd533c..7ab1a0277c 100755
--- a/dist/tools/coccinelle/check.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/coccinelle/check.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 # Copyright 2017 Kaspar Schleiser <kaspar@schleiser.de>
 #
diff --git a/dist/tools/dlcache/dlcache.sh b/dist/tools/dlcache/dlcache.sh
index 08cf7d6de4..1585f9751b 100755
--- a/dist/tools/dlcache/dlcache.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/dlcache/dlcache.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 DLCACHE_DIR=${DLCACHE_DIR:-~/.dlcache}
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/git/git-cache b/dist/tools/git/git-cache
index 24e4de4ffd..6d9ecb0aff 100755
--- a/dist/tools/git/git-cache
+++ b/dist/tools/git/git-cache
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-#!/bin/sh -e
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -e
 
 [ "$GIT_CACHE_VERBOSE" != "1" ] && Q=-q
 
diff --git a/dist/tools/insufficient_memory/add_insufficient_memory_board.sh b/dist/tools/insufficient_memory/add_insufficient_memory_board.sh
index 7d44629f3b..f66698fc72 100755
--- a/dist/tools/insufficient_memory/add_insufficient_memory_board.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/insufficient_memory/add_insufficient_memory_board.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 #
 # Copyright (C) 2019 Benjamin Valentin <benjamin.valentin@ml-pa.com>
 #
diff --git a/dist/tools/licenses/check.sh b/dist/tools/licenses/check.sh
index 92bab9798a..8bebb0303b 100755
--- a/dist/tools/licenses/check.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/licenses/check.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 # Copyright 2017 Kaspar Schleiser <kaspar@schleiser.de>
 # Copyright 2014 Ludwig Knüpfer <ludwig.knuepfer@fu-berlin.de>
diff --git a/dist/tools/uncrustify/uncrustify.sh b/dist/tools/uncrustify/uncrustify.sh
index 0cf6891550..bdc5a2c419 100755
--- a/dist/tools/uncrustify/uncrustify.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/uncrustify/uncrustify.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 RIOTBASE=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
 CURDIR=$(cd "$(dirname "$0")" && pwd)
 UNCRUSTIFY_CFG="$RIOTBASE"/uncrustify-riot.cfg
diff --git a/dist/tools/vera++/check.sh b/dist/tools/vera++/check.sh
index cc97476a35..65356accaa 100755
--- a/dist/tools/vera++/check.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/vera++/check.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 
 # Copyright 2018 Jose Ignacio Alamos <jose.alamos@haw-hamburg.de>
 #