diff --git a/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c b/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c
index 0e09305184..9bc7fc1569 100644
--- a/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c
+++ b/sys/auto_init/auto_init.c
@@ -153,8 +153,10 @@ void auto_init(void)
     openthread_bootstrap();
 #endif
 #ifdef MODULE_GCOAP
-    DEBUG("Auto init gcoap module.\n");
-    gcoap_init();
+    if (!IS_ACTIVE(GCOAP_NO_AUTO_INIT)) {
+        DEBUG("Auto init gcoap module.\n");
+        gcoap_init();
+    }
 #endif
 #ifdef MODULE_DEVFS
     DEBUG("Mounting /dev\n");
diff --git a/sys/include/net/gcoap.h b/sys/include/net/gcoap.h
index 410f3eaa7f..9b3c6bae15 100644
--- a/sys/include/net/gcoap.h
+++ b/sys/include/net/gcoap.h
@@ -446,6 +446,16 @@ extern "C" {
  */
 #define GCOAP_PAYLOAD_MARKER    (0xFF)
 
+/**
+ * @ingroup net_gcoap_conf
+ * @brief   Disables gcoap startup during system auto init
+ *
+ * If disabled, gcoap_init() must be called by some other means.
+ */
+#ifndef GCOAP_NO_AUTO_INIT
+#define GCOAP_NO_AUTO_INIT      0
+#endif
+
 /**
  * @name    States for the memo used to track waiting for a response
  * @{