diff --git a/core/include/sched.h b/core/include/sched.h
index db9fad5463..23cfc56d75 100644
--- a/core/include/sched.h
+++ b/core/include/sched.h
@@ -119,6 +119,15 @@ extern "C" {
  */
 #define PRIkernel_pid PRIi16
 
+#if defined(DEVELHELP) || defined(DOXYGEN)
+/**
+ * Enables detection of stack overflows and measures stack usage when != 0
+ */
+#ifndef SCHED_TEST_STACK
+#define SCHED_TEST_STACK    1
+#endif  /* SCHED_TEST_STACK */
+#endif  /* DEVELHELP */
+
 /**
  * Unique process identifier
  */
diff --git a/core/include/thread.h b/core/include/thread.h
index 1636953817..a2872256b9 100644
--- a/core/include/thread.h
+++ b/core/include/thread.h
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ struct _thread {
     msg_t *msg_array;               /**< memory holding messages sent
                                          to this thread's message queue */
 #endif
-#if defined(DEVELHELP) || defined(SCHED_TEST_STACK) \
+#if defined(DEVELHELP) || IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK) \
     || defined(MODULE_MPU_STACK_GUARD) || defined(DOXYGEN)
     char *stack_start;              /**< thread's stack start address   */
 #endif
@@ -545,7 +545,7 @@ const char *thread_state_to_string(thread_status_t state);
  */
 static inline void *thread_get_stackstart(const thread_t *thread)
 {
-#if defined(DEVELHELP) || defined(SCHED_TEST_STACK) \
+#if defined(DEVELHELP) || IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK) \
     || defined(MODULE_MPU_STACK_GUARD)
     return thread->stack_start;
 #else
diff --git a/core/sched.c b/core/sched.c
index b6eb15c28f..0afbdea0b7 100644
--- a/core/sched.c
+++ b/core/sched.c
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ static void _unschedule(thread_t *active_thread)
         active_thread->status = STATUS_PENDING;
     }
 
-#ifdef SCHED_TEST_STACK
+#if IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK)
     if (*((uintptr_t *)active_thread->stack_start) !=
         (uintptr_t)active_thread->stack_start) {
         LOG_WARNING(
diff --git a/core/thread.c b/core/thread.c
index 4c56608ca3..fa2e49130b 100644
--- a/core/thread.c
+++ b/core/thread.c
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ kernel_pid_t thread_create(char *stack, int stacksize, uint8_t priority,
     _init_tls(thread->tls);
 #endif
 
-#if defined(DEVELHELP) || defined(SCHED_TEST_STACK)
+#if defined(DEVELHELP) || IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK)
     if (flags & THREAD_CREATE_STACKTEST) {
         /* assign each int of the stack the value of it's address. Alignment
          * has been handled above, so silence -Wcast-align */
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ kernel_pid_t thread_create(char *stack, int stacksize, uint8_t priority,
     thread->pid = pid;
     thread->sp = thread_stack_init(function, arg, stack, stacksize);
 
-#if defined(DEVELHELP) || defined(SCHED_TEST_STACK) || \
+#if defined(DEVELHELP) || IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK) || \
     defined(MODULE_MPU_STACK_GUARD)
     thread->stack_start = stack;
 #endif
diff --git a/cpu/esp_common/thread_arch.c b/cpu/esp_common/thread_arch.c
index f6aded6725..de04cdc247 100644
--- a/cpu/esp_common/thread_arch.c
+++ b/cpu/esp_common/thread_arch.c
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ char* thread_stack_init(thread_task_func_t task_func, void *arg, void *stack_sta
     sp = (uint8_t*)(((uintptr_t)(top_of_stack + 1) - XT_STK_FRMSZ - XT_CP_SIZE) & ~0xf);
 
     /* Clear whole stack with a known value to assist debugging */
-    #if !defined(DEVELHELP) && !defined(SCHED_TEST_STACK)
+    #if !defined(DEVELHELP) && !IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK)
         /* Unfortunately, this affects thread_measure_stack_free function */
         memset(stack_start, 0, stack_size);
     #else
diff --git a/tests/bench_sizeof_coretypes/main.c b/tests/bench_sizeof_coretypes/main.c
index 099f735ac0..37221a1185 100644
--- a/tests/bench_sizeof_coretypes/main.c
+++ b/tests/bench_sizeof_coretypes/main.c
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ int main(void)
     P(msg_queue);
     P(msg_array);
 #endif
-#if defined(DEVELHELP) || defined(SCHED_TEST_STACK) || defined(MODULE_MPU_STACK_GUARD)
+#if defined(DEVELHELP) || IS_ACTIVE(SCHED_TEST_STACK) || defined(MODULE_MPU_STACK_GUARD)
     P(stack_start);
 #endif
 #ifdef DEVELHELP