diff --git a/core/include/arch/thread_arch.h b/core/include/arch/thread_arch.h
index 10507a073..264d9f5ba 100644
--- a/core/include/arch/thread_arch.h
+++ b/core/include/arch/thread_arch.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #ifndef THREAD_ARCH_H
 #define THREAD_ARCH_H
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
  extern "C" {
diff --git a/core/include/clist.h b/core/include/clist.h
index b5442f746..8ab57e034 100644
--- a/core/include/clist.h
+++ b/core/include/clist.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #ifndef CLIST_H
 #define CLIST_H
 
-#include "kernel_macros.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
  extern "C" {
diff --git a/core/include/attributes.h b/core/include/kernel_defines.h
similarity index 56%
rename from core/include/attributes.h
rename to core/include/kernel_defines.h
index 1de1cd231..7b19d138f 100644
--- a/core/include/attributes.h
+++ b/core/include/kernel_defines.h
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@
  * @{
  *
  * @file
- * @brief       Compiler attributes/pragmas configuration
+ * @brief       Common macros and compiler attributes/pragmas configuration
  *
  * @author      René Kijewski <rene.kijewski@fu-berlin.de>
  */
 
-#ifndef ATTRIBUTES_H_
-#define ATTRIBUTES_H_
+#ifndef KERNEL_DEFINES_H_
+#define KERNEL_DEFINES_H_
 
 #include <stddef.h>
 
@@ -25,6 +25,38 @@
  extern "C" {
 #endif
 
+/**
+ * @def         container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER)
+ * @brief       Returns the container of a pointer to a member.
+ * @details     For a struct `TYPE` with a member `MEMBER`,
+ *              given a pointer `PTR` to `TYPE::MEMBER` this function returns a pointer
+ *              to the instance of `TYPE`.
+ * @details     E.g. for `struct my_struct_t { ...; something_t n; ... } my_struct;`,
+ *              `&my_struct == container_of(&my_struct.n, struct my_struct_t, n)`.
+ * @param[in]   PTR      pointer to a member
+ * @param[in]   TYPE     a type name (a struct or union), container of PTR
+ * @param[in]   MEMBER   name of the member of TYPE which PTR points to
+ * @return      Pointer to the container of PTR.
+ */
+#if __STDC_VERSION__ >= 201112L
+#   define container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER) \
+        (_Generic((PTR), \
+            const __typeof__ (((TYPE *) 0)->MEMBER) *: \
+                ((TYPE *) ((char *) (PTR) - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER))), \
+            __typeof__ (((TYPE *) 0)->MEMBER) *: \
+                ((TYPE *) ((char *) (PTR) - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER))) \
+        ))
+#elif defined __GNUC__
+#   define container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER) \
+        (__extension__ ({ \
+            __extension__ const __typeof__ (((TYPE *) 0)->MEMBER) *__m____ = (PTR); \
+            ((TYPE *) ((char *) __m____ - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER))); \
+        }))
+#else
+#   define container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER) \
+        ((TYPE *) ((char *) (PTR) - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER)))
+#endif
+
 /**
  * @def NORETURN
  * @brief The *NORETURN* keyword tells the compiler to assume that the function
@@ -86,5 +118,5 @@
 }
 #endif
 
-#endif /* ATTRIBUTES_H_ */
+#endif /* KERNEL_DEFINES_H_ */
 /** @} */
diff --git a/core/include/kernel_macros.h b/core/include/kernel_macros.h
deleted file mode 100644
index b04c331e1..000000000
--- a/core/include/kernel_macros.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,67 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (C) 2014 Freie Universität Berlin
- *
- * This file is subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU Lesser
- * General Public License v2.1. See the file LICENSE in the top level
- * directory for more details.
- */
-
-/**
- * @addtogroup  core_util
- * @{
- *
- * @file
- * @brief       common macros
- *
- * @author      René Kijewski
- */
-
-#ifndef KERNEL_MACROS_H
-#define KERNEL_MACROS_H
-
-#include <stddef.h>
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif
-
-/**
- * @def         container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER)
- * @brief       Returns the container of a pointer to a member.
- * @details     For a struct `TYPE` with a member `MEMBER`,
- *              given a pointer `PTR` to `TYPE::MEMBER` this function returns a pointer
- *              to the instance of `TYPE`.
- * @details     E.g. for `struct my_struct_t { ...; something_t n; ... } my_struct;`,
- *              `&my_struct == container_of(&my_struct.n, struct my_struct_t, n)`.
- * @param[in]   PTR      pointer to a member
- * @param[in]   TYPE     a type name (a struct or union), container of PTR
- * @param[in]   MEMBER   name of the member of TYPE which PTR points to
- * @return      Pointer to the container of PTR.
- */
-#if __STDC_VERSION__ >= 201112L
-#   define container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER) \
-        (_Generic((PTR), \
-            const __typeof__ (((TYPE *) 0)->MEMBER) *: \
-                ((TYPE *) ((char *) (PTR) - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER))), \
-            __typeof__ (((TYPE *) 0)->MEMBER) *: \
-                ((TYPE *) ((char *) (PTR) - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER))) \
-        ))
-#elif defined __GNUC__
-#   define container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER) \
-        (__extension__ ({ \
-            __extension__ const __typeof__ (((TYPE *) 0)->MEMBER) *__m____ = (PTR); \
-            ((TYPE *) ((char *) __m____ - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER))); \
-        }))
-#else
-#   define container_of(PTR, TYPE, MEMBER) \
-        ((TYPE *) ((char *) (PTR) - offsetof(TYPE, MEMBER)))
-#endif
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif
-
-#endif /* KERNEL_MACROS_H */
-/**
- * @}
- */
diff --git a/core/include/panic.h b/core/include/panic.h
index aa3658fa6..d0f6050ca 100644
--- a/core/include/panic.h
+++ b/core/include/panic.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 #ifndef PANIC_H
 #define PANIC_H
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
  extern "C" {
diff --git a/core/include/sched.h b/core/include/sched.h
index cf7a30104..d3582bf9b 100644
--- a/core/include/sched.h
+++ b/core/include/sched.h
@@ -81,9 +81,8 @@
 #define SCHEDULER_H
 
 #include <stddef.h>
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 #include "bitarithm.h"
-#include "attributes.h"
 #include "kernel_types.h"
 #include "native_sched.h"
 #include "clist.h"
diff --git a/core/panic.c b/core/panic.c
index 86dc50283..4a998cabf 100644
--- a/core/panic.c
+++ b/core/panic.c
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 #include "assert.h"
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 #include "cpu.h"
 #include "irq.h"
 #include "lpm.h"
diff --git a/cpu/x86/include/cpu.h b/cpu/x86/include/cpu.h
index b6adf77ff..5c8119a34 100644
--- a/cpu/x86/include/cpu.h
+++ b/cpu/x86/include/cpu.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #ifndef CPU_X86_CPU_H_
 #define CPU_X86_CPU_H_
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 #include "irq.h"
 #include "ucontext.h"
 #include "cpu_conf.h"
diff --git a/cpu/x86/include/x86_reboot.h b/cpu/x86/include/x86_reboot.h
index 824e9a6af..e39981f2d 100644
--- a/cpu/x86/include/x86_reboot.h
+++ b/cpu/x86/include/x86_reboot.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 #define CPU__X86__REBOOT__H__
 
 #include <stdbool.h>
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
diff --git a/cpu/x86/x86_glue.c b/cpu/x86/x86_glue.c
index cb835c9b9..b7cc3dc42 100644
--- a/cpu/x86/x86_glue.c
+++ b/cpu/x86/x86_glue.c
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
  * @}
  */
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 #include "cpu.h"
 #include "sched.h"
 #include "x86_uart.h"
diff --git a/cpu/x86/x86_interrupts.c b/cpu/x86/x86_interrupts.c
index 87e789f3e..ae3aaa5ce 100644
--- a/cpu/x86/x86_interrupts.c
+++ b/cpu/x86/x86_interrupts.c
@@ -28,20 +28,21 @@
  * @}
  */
 
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
+#include "cpu.h"
+#include "sched.h"
+#include "thread.h"
+#include "ucontext.h"
+
 #include "x86_interrupts.h"
 #include "x86_memory.h"
 #include "x86_ports.h"
 #include "x86_registers.h"
 #include "x86_threading.h"
 
-#include <attributes.h>
-#include <cpu.h>
-#include <sched.h>
-#include <thread.h>
-#include <ucontext.h>
-
-#include <stdint.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
 
 #define ASM_FUN_ATTRIBUTES \
     __attribute__((noinline)) \
diff --git a/sys/include/net/gnrc/ipv6/netif.h b/sys/include/net/gnrc/ipv6/netif.h
index 637a563dd..d336d5334 100644
--- a/sys/include/net/gnrc/ipv6/netif.h
+++ b/sys/include/net/gnrc/ipv6/netif.h
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
-#include "kernel_macros.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 #include "kernel_types.h"
 #include "mutex.h"
 #include "net/ipv6.h"
diff --git a/sys/include/shell.h b/sys/include/shell.h
index 301dd46d6..5b953ac6a 100644
--- a/sys/include/shell.h
+++ b/sys/include/shell.h
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 #include <stdint.h>
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
diff --git a/sys/include/tm.h b/sys/include/tm.h
index 29c950a2c..e8e9cc6db 100644
--- a/sys/include/tm.h
+++ b/sys/include/tm.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 #include <sys/time.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
diff --git a/sys/posix/pthread/include/pthread_threading.h b/sys/posix/pthread/include/pthread_threading.h
index 060ee90e1..101fe0d80 100644
--- a/sys/posix/pthread/include/pthread_threading.h
+++ b/sys/posix/pthread/include/pthread_threading.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #ifndef __SYS__POSIX__PTHREAD_THREADING__H
 #define __SYS__POSIX__PTHREAD_THREADING__H
 
-#include "attributes.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tests-ubjson/tests-ubjson.h b/tests/unittests/tests-ubjson/tests-ubjson.h
index 4aca04edd..fb190f4a8 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/tests-ubjson/tests-ubjson.h
+++ b/tests/unittests/tests-ubjson/tests-ubjson.h
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 #define TESTS_UBJSON_H_
 
 #include "embUnit.h"
-#include "kernel_macros.h"
+#include "kernel_defines.h"
 
 #include "ubjson.h"