diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index dbffc58186..61b536071d 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -41,8 +41,6 @@ RIOTMAKE            ?= $(RIOTBASE)/makefiles
 RIOTPKG             ?= $(RIOTBASE)/pkg
 RIOTTOOLS           ?= $(RIOTBASE)/dist/tools
 RIOTPROJECT         ?= $(shell git rev-parse --show-toplevel 2>/dev/null || pwd)
-GITCACHE            ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/git/git-cache
-GIT_CACHE_DIR       ?= $(HOME)/.gitcache
 BUILD_DIR           ?= $(RIOTBASE)/build
 APPDIR              ?= $(CURDIR)
 BINDIRBASE          ?= $(APPDIR)/bin
@@ -65,7 +63,6 @@ __DIRECTORY_VARIABLES := \
   BUILD_DIR \
   BINDIRBASE \
   BINDIR \
-  GITCACHE \
   PKGDIRBASE \
   DLCACHE_DIR \
   #
@@ -115,7 +112,6 @@ override RIOTMAKE               := $(abspath $(RIOTMAKE))
 override RIOTPKG                := $(abspath $(RIOTPKG))
 override RIOTTOOLS              := $(abspath $(RIOTTOOLS))
 override RIOTPROJECT            := $(abspath $(RIOTPROJECT))
-override GITCACHE               := $(abspath $(GITCACHE))
 override APPDIR                 := $(abspath $(APPDIR))
 override BUILD_DIR              := $(abspath $(BUILD_DIR))
 override BINDIRBASE             := $(abspath $(BINDIRBASE))
diff --git a/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/check.sh b/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/check.sh
index 9974e3470a..5ef5f01fac 100755
--- a/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/check.sh
+++ b/dist/tools/buildsystem_sanity_check/check.sh
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ UNEXPORTED_VARIABLES+=('FLASH_TARGET_TYPE')
 UNEXPORTED_VARIABLES+=('PYOCD_ADAPTER_INIT')
 UNEXPORTED_VARIABLES+=('JLINK_DEVICE' 'JLINK_IF')
 UNEXPORTED_VARIABLES+=('JLINK_PRE_FLASH' 'JLINK_RESET_FILE')
+UNEXPORTED_VARIABLES+=('GIT_CACHE' 'GIT_CACHE_DIR')
 
 EXPORTED_VARIABLES_ONLY_IN_VARS=()
 EXPORTED_VARIABLES_ONLY_IN_VARS+=('APPDEPS')
diff --git a/dist/tools/flatc/Makefile b/dist/tools/flatc/Makefile
index 24a3dab6d0..9ac92acf81 100644
--- a/dist/tools/flatc/Makefile
+++ b/dist/tools/flatc/Makefile
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ FLATC_BUILD_DIR = $(PKG_BUILDDIR)/build
 # manually set some RIOT env vars, so this Makefile can be called stand-alone
 RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../../..
 RIOTTOOLS ?= $(CURDIR)/..
-GITCACHE ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/git/git-cache
 
 CMAKE_OPTIONS = \
     -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release       \
diff --git a/dist/tools/git/git-cache b/dist/tools/git/git-cache
index 06901afd99..24e4de4ffd 100755
--- a/dist/tools/git/git-cache
+++ b/dist/tools/git/git-cache
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ usage() {
 ACTION=$1
 shift 1
 
-export GIT_CACHE_DIR=${GIT_CACHE_DIR:-${HOME}/.gitcache}
+GIT_CACHE_DIR=${GIT_CACHE_DIR:-${HOME}/.gitcache}
 
 case $ACTION in
     init)
diff --git a/dist/tools/mosquitto_rsmb/Makefile b/dist/tools/mosquitto_rsmb/Makefile
index ee977acaa5..b1065d81bf 100644
--- a/dist/tools/mosquitto_rsmb/Makefile
+++ b/dist/tools/mosquitto_rsmb/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ RSMB_CFG ?= $(CURDIR)/config.cnf
 # manually set some RIOT env vars, so this Makefile can be called stand-alone
 RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../../..
 RIOTTOOLS ?= $(CURDIR)/..
-GITCACHE ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/git/git-cache
 
 # Include pkg.mk after setting RIOTBASE otherwise it is not found when this
 # Makefile is called stand-alone
diff --git a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
index 78a6ca294f..61cd8b2bec 100644
--- a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@ export WERROR                # Treat all compiler warnings as errors if set to 1
 export WPEDANTIC             # Issue all (extensive) compiler warnings demanded by strict C/C++
 # EEPROM_FILE                # (Native only!) file path where the content of the EEPROM is stored
 
-export GITCACHE              # path to git-cache executable
-export GIT_CACHE_DIR         # path to git-cache cache directory
+# GITCACHE                   # path to git-cache executable
+# GIT_CACHE_DIR              # path to git-cache cache directory, only used with packages
 # FLASHER                    # The command to call on "make flash".
 # PROG_DEV                   # The device to connect the FLASHER and DEBUGGER
 # FFLAGS                     # The parameters to supply to FLASHER.
diff --git a/pkg/pkg.mk b/pkg/pkg.mk
index bd14418b8d..4a2b5edb9a 100644
--- a/pkg/pkg.mk
+++ b/pkg/pkg.mk
@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ PKG_DIR ?= $(CURDIR)
 PKG_BUILDDIR ?= $(PKGDIRBASE)/$(PKG_NAME)
 PKG_SOURCE_LOCAL ?= $(PKG_SOURCE_LOCAL_$(shell echo $(PKG_NAME) | tr a-z- A-Z_))
 
+# git-cache specific management: GIT_CACHE_DIR is exported only
+# when cloning the repository.
+GITCACHE ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/git/git-cache
+GIT_CACHE_DIR ?= $(HOME)/.gitcache
+include $(RIOTBASE)/makefiles/utils/variables.mk
+$(call target-export-variables,$(PKG_BUILDDIR)/.git,GIT_CACHE_DIR)
+
 # allow overriding package source with local folder (useful during development)
 ifneq (,$(PKG_SOURCE_LOCAL))
   include $(RIOTBASE)/pkg/local.mk