diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index d0468a86124b..eb79038f3315 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -543,8 +543,10 @@ flash-only: $(FLASHDEPS)
 preflash: $(BUILD_BEFORE_FLASH)
 	$(PREFLASHER) $(PREFFLAGS)
 
+rawterm: $(filter flash, $(MAKECMDGOALS)) $(TERMDEPS)
+	$(RAWTERMPROG) $(RAWTERMFLAGS)
+
 term: $(filter flash, $(MAKECMDGOALS)) $(TERMDEPS)
-	$(call check_cmd,$(TERMPROG),Terminal program)
 	$(TERMPROG) $(TERMFLAGS)
 
 list-ttys:
diff --git a/boards/common/msba2/Makefile.include b/boards/common/msba2/Makefile.include
index bcd3499f8e9c..4505a7a578b6 100644
--- a/boards/common/msba2/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/common/msba2/Makefile.include
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ PORT_LINUX ?= /dev/ttyUSB0
 # This does not make a lot of sense, but it has the same value as the previous code
 PORT_DARWIN ?= /dev/tty.usbserial-ARM
 
+# The -tg option is specific to pyterm so we are forced to use it.
+RIOT_TERMINAL = pyterm
 TERMFLAGS += -tg -p "$(PORT)"
 include $(RIOTMAKE)/tools/serial.inc.mk
 
diff --git a/boards/lobaro-lorabox/Makefile.include b/boards/lobaro-lorabox/Makefile.include
index 45b63d68dd32..b955686ebbdf 100644
--- a/boards/lobaro-lorabox/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/lobaro-lorabox/Makefile.include
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ PORT_LINUX ?= /dev/ttyUSB0
 PORT_DARWIN ?= $(firstword $(sort $(wildcard /dev/tty.usbmodem*)))
 
 # setup serial terminal
+# The --set-rts option is specific to pyterm so we are forced to use it.
+RIOT_TERMINAL = pyterm
 include $(RIOTMAKE)/tools/serial.inc.mk
 
 FLASHER = $(RIOTTOOLS)/stm32loader/stm32loader.py
diff --git a/boards/native/Makefile.include b/boards/native/Makefile.include
index 91b4c84b1fd2..75598427b68b 100644
--- a/boards/native/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/native/Makefile.include
@@ -40,7 +40,30 @@ else
   export DEBUGGER ?= gdb
 endif
 
-TERMPROG ?= $(ELFFILE)
+# set the tap interface for term/valgrind
+# FIXME: this is not a port. It should be renames as "NET_INTERFACE" or
+# something else that is more honest.
+ifneq (,$(filter netdev_default gnrc_netdev_default,$(USEMODULE)))
+  export PORT ?= tap0
+else
+  export PORT =
+endif
+
+RIOT_TERMINAL ?= rlwrap
+# Silence the "Warning: no PORT set!" message
+# PORT ?= not-applicable
+# Wrapping native in socat disables line buffering so the behavior of native
+# is more similar to that of bare-metal RIOT.
+RIOT_RAWTERMINAL ?= socat
+NATIVE_EXEC ?= $(ELFFILE)
+NATIVE_FLAGS += $(PORT)  # Flags to the native executable
+
+# checkout the "sigint" flags. Without it ctrl-c just exits socat, which breaks
+# the pipe on the RIOT executable causing SIGPIPE and a dirty exit.
+SOCAT_REMOTE = exec:"$(NATIVE_EXEC) $(NATIVE_FLAGS)",sigint,pty $(PORT)
+
+include $(RIOTMAKE)/tools/serial.inc.mk
+
 export FLASHER = true
 export VALGRIND ?= valgrind
 export CGANNOTATE ?= cg_annotate
@@ -93,14 +116,6 @@ else
 endif
 export LINKFLAGS += -ffunction-sections
 
-# set the tap interface for term/valgrind
-ifneq (,$(filter netdev_default gnrc_netdev_default,$(USEMODULE)))
-  export PORT ?= tap0
-else
-  export PORT =
-endif
-
-TERMFLAGS := $(PORT) $(TERMFLAGS)
 
 export ASFLAGS =
 ifeq ($(shell basename $(DEBUGGER)),lldb)
@@ -117,7 +132,7 @@ debug-valgrind-server: export VALGRIND_FLAGS ?= --vgdb=yes --vgdb-error=0 -v \
 	--leak-check=full --track-origins=yes --fullpath-after=$(RIOTBASE) \
 	--read-var-info=yes
 term-cachegrind: export CACHEGRIND_FLAGS += --tool=cachegrind
-term-gprof: TERMPROG = GMON_OUT_PREFIX=gmon.out $(ELFFILE)
+term-gprof: export GMON_OUT_PREFIX=gmon.out
 all-valgrind: export CFLAGS += -DHAVE_VALGRIND_H -g3
 all-valgrind: export NATIVEINCLUDES += $(shell pkg-config valgrind --cflags)
 all-debug: export CFLAGS += -g3
diff --git a/boards/ruuvitag/Makefile.include b/boards/ruuvitag/Makefile.include
index eb284c27fc33..2444cc71952e 100644
--- a/boards/ruuvitag/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/ruuvitag/Makefile.include
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ CPU_MODEL = nrf52832xxaa
 
 # for this board, we are using Segger's RTT as default terminal interface
 USEMODULE += stdio_rtt
-TERMPROG = $(RIOTTOOLS)/jlink/jlink.sh
-TERMFLAGS = term_rtt
+RIOT_RAWTERMINAL = jlink
 
 # use shared Makefile.include
 include $(RIOTBOARD)/common/nrf52xxxdk/Makefile.include
diff --git a/boards/thingy52/Makefile.include b/boards/thingy52/Makefile.include
index bf6e40dba2c8..5cd5b0bd3027 100644
--- a/boards/thingy52/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/thingy52/Makefile.include
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ CPU_MODEL = nrf52832xxaa
 
 # for this board, we are using Segger's RTT as default terminal interface
 USEMODULE += stdio_rtt
-TERMPROG = $(RIOTTOOLS)/jlink/jlink.sh
-TERMFLAGS = term_rtt
+RIOT_RAWTERMINAL = jlink
 
 # use shared Makefile.include
 include $(RIOTBOARD)/common/nrf52/Makefile.include
diff --git a/dist/pythonlibs/testrunner/spawn.py b/dist/pythonlibs/testrunner/spawn.py
index 84164d1a1d0e..de4974bbb592 100644
--- a/dist/pythonlibs/testrunner/spawn.py
+++ b/dist/pythonlibs/testrunner/spawn.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def find_exc_origin(exc_info):
 
 
 def setup_child(timeout=10, spawnclass=pexpect.spawnu, env=None, logfile=None):
-    child = spawnclass("make term", env=env, timeout=timeout,
+    child = spawnclass("make rawterm", env=env, timeout=timeout,
                        codec_errors='replace', echo=False)
 
     # on many platforms, the termprog needs a short while to be ready...
diff --git a/examples/gnrc_border_router/Makefile b/examples/gnrc_border_router/Makefile
index 82f8f7ff945a..ba1277c8d0b2 100644
--- a/examples/gnrc_border_router/Makefile
+++ b/examples/gnrc_border_router/Makefile
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ ifeq (,$(filter native,$(BOARD)))
   CFLAGS += -DETHOS_BAUDRATE=$(ETHOS_BAUDRATE) -DUSE_ETHOS_FOR_STDIO
 else
   GNRC_NETIF_NUMOF := 2
-  TERMFLAGS += -z [::1]:17754
+  NATIVE_FLAGS += -z [::1]:17754
   USEMODULE += socket_zep
 endif
 
diff --git a/makefiles/info.inc.mk b/makefiles/info.inc.mk
index 239b819c114b..b14fc6869768 100644
--- a/makefiles/info.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/info.inc.mk
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ info-build:
 	@echo ''
 	@echo 'TERMPROG:  $(TERMPROG)'
 	@echo 'TERMFLAGS: $(TERMFLAGS)'
+	@echo 'RAWTERMPROG:  $(RAWTERMPROG)'
+	@echo 'RAWTERMFLAGS: $(RAWTERMFLAGS)'
 	@echo 'PORT:      $(PORT)'
 	@echo ''
 	@echo 'DEBUGGER:       $(DEBUGGER)'
diff --git a/makefiles/tools/jlink.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/jlink.inc.mk
index 61abdd129065..9a73b2407330 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/jlink.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/jlink.inc.mk
@@ -9,3 +9,8 @@ export FFLAGS ?= flash $(FLASHFILE)
 export DEBUGGER_FLAGS ?= debug $(ELFFILE)
 export DEBUGSERVER_FLAGS ?= debug-server
 export RESET_FLAGS ?= reset
+
+ifeq ($(RIOT_RAWTERMINAL),jlink)
+  RAWTERMPROG  ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/jlink/jlink.sh
+  RAWTERMFLAGS ?= term_rtt
+endif
diff --git a/makefiles/tools/serial.inc.mk b/makefiles/tools/serial.inc.mk
index 8abcf7fe1d1f..054149afab23 100644
--- a/makefiles/tools/serial.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/tools/serial.inc.mk
@@ -16,11 +16,29 @@ RIOT_TERMINAL ?= pyterm
 ifeq ($(RIOT_TERMINAL),pyterm)
   TERMPROG  ?= $(RIOTTOOLS)/pyterm/pyterm
   TERMFLAGS ?= -p "$(PORT)" -b "$(BAUD)"
-else ifeq ($(RIOT_TERMINAL),socat)
-  SOCAT_OUTPUT ?= -
-  TERMPROG ?= $(RIOT_TERMINAL)
-  TERMFLAGS ?= $(SOCAT_OUTPUT) open:$(PORT),b$(BAUD),echo=0,raw
+else ifeq ($(RIOT_TERMINAL),rlwrap)
+  TERMPROG  ?= $(RIOT_TERMINAL)
+  RLWRAP_PROMPT ?= -pPurple -S 'RIOT $$ '
+  RLWRAP_FLAGS ?= -a -C RIOT-$(BOARD)
+  TERMFLAGS  ?= $(RLWRAP_PROMPT) $(RLWRAP_FLAGS) $(RAWTERMPROG) $(RAWTERMFLAGS)
 else ifeq ($(RIOT_TERMINAL),picocom)
   TERMPROG  ?= picocom
   TERMFLAGS ?= --nolock --imap lfcrlf --baud "$(BAUD)" "$(PORT)"
+else ifeq ($(RIOT_TERMINAL),custom)
+  # Do nothing. This name is reserved so that TERMFLAGS does not get
+  # set if the user wants to override TERMPROG.
+endif
+
+RIOT_RAWTERMINAL ?= socat
+ifeq ($(RIOT_RAWTERMINAL),socat)
+  SOCAT_LOCAL ?= STDIO,icanon=0,echo=0,escape=0x04
+  SOCAT_REMOTE ?= open:$(PORT),b$(BAUD),echo=0,raw
+  RAWTERMPROG ?= $(RIOT_RAWTERMINAL)
+  RAWTERMFLAGS ?= $(SOCAT_LOCAL) $(SOCAT_REMOTE)
+else ifeq ($(RIOT_RAWTERMINAL),picocom)
+  RAWTERMPROG  ?= picocom
+  RAWTERMFLAGS ?= --nolock -q --imap lfcrlf --baud "$(BAUD)" "$(PORT)"
+else ifeq ($(RIOT_RAWTERMINAL),custom)
+  # Do nothing. This name is reserved so that TERMFLAGS does not get
+  # set if the user wants to override TERMPROG.
 endif
diff --git a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
index bff4d74f52a1..e0277acc685c 100644
--- a/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
+++ b/makefiles/vars.inc.mk
@@ -72,8 +72,28 @@ export GIT_CACHE_DIR         # path to git-cache cache directory
 export FLASHER               # The command to call on "make flash".
 export FFLAGS                # The parameters to supply to FLASHER.
 export FLASH_ADDR            # Define an offset to flash code into ROM memory.
-# TERMPROG                   # The command to call on "make term".
+
+# --- Terminal Access --- #
+
+# RIOT_TERMINAL              # Preset to use for the "user friendly" terminal.
+                             # TERMPROG and TERMFLAGS will be set according to
+                             # RIOT_TERMINAL. The special name "custom" can be
+                             # used to leave these variables undefined.
+# TERMPROG                   # The command to call on "make term". This should be
+                             # "user friendly" terminal, with line editing-history, etc.
+                             # By default, rlwrap is used around the RAWTERM program.
 # TERMFLAGS                  # Additional parameters to supply to TERMPROG.
+
+# RIOT_RAWTERMINAL           # Like RIOT_TERMINAL but for the raw/testing terminal.
+# RAWTERMPROG                # The command to call on "make rawterm". This terminal
+                             # is used for testing. It should have no buffering,
+                             # and no translation or modification of input or output.
+# RAWTERMFLAGS               # Additional parameters to supply to RAWTERMPROG.
+
+# --- Native-specific --- #
+# NATIVE_EXEC                # Executable for native builds.
+# NATIVE_FLAGS               # Command line arguments for the native executable.
+
 export PORT                  # The port to connect the TERMPROG to.
 export ELFFILE               # The unstripped result of the compilation.
 export HEXFILE               # The stripped result of the compilation.
diff --git a/tests/gnrc_ipv6_ext/Makefile b/tests/gnrc_ipv6_ext/Makefile
index 009a309074b1..fe5c5efb1d82 100644
--- a/tests/gnrc_ipv6_ext/Makefile
+++ b/tests/gnrc_ipv6_ext/Makefile
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export TAP ?= tap0
 ifeq (native,$(BOARD))
   USEMODULE += netdev_tap
 
-  TERMFLAGS ?= $(TAP)
+  NATIVE_FLAGS ?= $(TAP)
 else
   USEMODULE += ethos
 
diff --git a/tests/gnrc_rpl_srh/Makefile b/tests/gnrc_rpl_srh/Makefile
index 098caf6be454..5f794762110c 100644
--- a/tests/gnrc_rpl_srh/Makefile
+++ b/tests/gnrc_rpl_srh/Makefile
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ CFLAGS += -DOUTPUT=TEXT
 ifeq (native,$(BOARD))
   USEMODULE += netdev_tap
 
-  TERMFLAGS ?= $(TAP)
+  NATIVE_FLAGS ?= $(TAP)
 else
   USEMODULE += ethos
 
diff --git a/tests/socket_zep/Makefile b/tests/socket_zep/Makefile
index dbf82761e22c..c6c54cff85e5 100644
--- a/tests/socket_zep/Makefile
+++ b/tests/socket_zep/Makefile
@@ -10,6 +10,6 @@ USEMODULE += socket_zep
 
 CFLAGS += -DDEVELHELP
 
-TERMFLAGS ?= -z [::1]:17754
+NATIVE_FLAGS ?= -z [::1]:17754
 
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
diff --git a/tests/socket_zep/tests/01-run.py b/tests/socket_zep/tests/01-run.py
index 843f3421b74e..57cd92a7ce4e 100755
--- a/tests/socket_zep/tests/01-run.py
+++ b/tests/socket_zep/tests/01-run.py
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ def testfunc(child):
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    os.environ['TERMFLAGS'] = "-z [%s]:%d,[%s]:%d" % (
+    os.environ['NATIVE_FLAGS'] = "-z [%s]:%d,[%s]:%d" % (
             zep_params['local_addr'], zep_params['local_port'],
             zep_params['remote_addr'], zep_params['remote_port'])
     s = socket.socket(family=socket.AF_INET6, type=socket.SOCK_DGRAM)