diff --git a/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/Makefile.include b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/Makefile.include
index ae118a9a52..3f55b658d4 100644
--- a/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/Makefile.include
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ PROGRAMMER ?= xplainedpro
 
 # This board can be reset via avrdude
 RESET ?= avrdude -c $(PROGRAMMER) -p m256rfr2
+# Use edbg interface for debugging
+DEBUGSERVER_INTERFACE ?= --edbg
 
 include $(RIOTMAKE)/tools/avrdude.inc.mk
 include $(RIOTBOARD)/common/atmega/Makefile.include
diff --git a/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/debug.sh b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/debug.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..d1fb3d67ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/debug.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+# The setsid command is needed so that Ctrl+C in GDB doesn't kill avarice
+: ${SETSID:=setsid}
+
+sleep 2
+${SETSID} -w avarice $1 &
+sleep 3 && avr-gdb -ex "target remote localhost:$3" $4
+
+# avarice exits with 1 if the connection is released, therefore we always exit with 0
+exit 0
diff --git a/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/debug_srv.sh b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/debug_srv.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..8e7de053ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/debug_srv.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+sleep 2
+avarice $1
+
+# avarice exits with 1 if the connection is released, therefore we always exit with 0
+exit 0
diff --git a/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/gdb.conf b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/gdb.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ca68eb344c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/atmega256rfr2-xpro/dist/gdb.conf
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+set $pc=0x00