diff --git a/cpu/stm32f1/cpu.c b/cpu/stm32f1/cpu.c
index 1eca9a5ea6284100bf725dc591f628b64e47b7ad..d24aeafa8899dfc7dc8ce8e9872b82da8d35f044 100644
--- a/cpu/stm32f1/cpu.c
+++ b/cpu/stm32f1/cpu.c
@@ -29,10 +29,8 @@ static void clk_init(void);
 
 void cpu_init(void)
 {
-    /* set PendSV priority to the lowest possible priority */
-    NVIC_SetPriority(PendSV_IRQn, 0xff);
-    /* configure the vector table location to internal flash */
-    SCB->VTOR = FLASH_BASE;
+    /* initialize the Cortex-M core */
+    cortexm_init();
     /* initialize system clocks */
     clk_init();
 }
diff --git a/cpu/stm32f1/include/cpu_conf.h b/cpu/stm32f1/include/cpu_conf.h
index 37b8eb797e0e57db99e31962db9e649e5e9fd3c2..f6f0d81e689f732bc583a24472c9af4f4b303920 100644
--- a/cpu/stm32f1/include/cpu_conf.h
+++ b/cpu/stm32f1/include/cpu_conf.h
@@ -30,29 +30,12 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 /**
- * @name Kernel configuration
- *
- * TODO: measure and adjust for the cortex-m3
- * @{
- */
-#define THREAD_EXTRA_STACKSIZE_PRINTF    (1024)
-
-#ifndef THREAD_STACKSIZE_DEFAULT
-#define THREAD_STACKSIZE_DEFAULT   (1024)
-#endif
-
-#define THREAD_STACKSIZE_IDLE      (256)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name UART0 buffer size definition for compatibility reasons
- *
- * TODO: remove once the remodeling of the uart0 driver is done
+ * @brief   ARM Cortex-M specific CPU configuration
  * @{
  */
-#ifndef UART0_BUFSIZE
-#define UART0_BUFSIZE                   (128)
-#endif
+#define CPU_DEFAULT_IRQ_PRIO            (1U)
+#define CPU_IRQ_NUMOF                   (60U)
+#define CPU_FLASH_BASE                  FLASH_BASE
 /** @} */
 
 /**
@@ -60,20 +43,6 @@ extern "C" {
  */
 #define CPUID_ID_LEN                    (12)
 
-/**
- * @brief Definition of different panic modes
- */
-typedef enum {
-    HARD_FAULT,
-    WATCHDOG,
-    BUS_FAULT,
-    USAGE_FAULT,
-    DUMMY_HANDLER
-} panic_t;
-
-/**
- * @brief Buffer size to use by the transceiver
- */
 #define TRANSCEIVER_BUFFER_SIZE (3)
 
 /**
diff --git a/cpu/stm32f1/startup.c b/cpu/stm32f1/startup.c
index 34582a2308f2fefc263311dcc07144104e8b798a..b5e356e3f93ad39a97af0924499a60c25314835a 100644
--- a/cpu/stm32f1/startup.c
+++ b/cpu/stm32f1/startup.c
@@ -82,8 +82,7 @@ void reset_handler(void)
  */
 void dummy_handler(void)
 {
-    core_panic(DUMMY_HANDLER, "DUMMY HANDLER");
-    while (1) {asm ("nop");}
+    core_panic(PANIC_DUMMY_HANDLER, "DUMMY HANDLER");
 }
 
 void isr_nmi(void)
@@ -103,20 +102,17 @@ void isr_debug_mon(void)
 
 void isr_hard_fault(void)
 {
-    core_panic(HARD_FAULT, "HARD FAULT");
-    while (1) {asm ("nop");}
+    core_panic(PANIC_HARD_FAULT, "HARD FAULT");
 }
 
 void isr_bus_fault(void)
 {
-    core_panic(BUS_FAULT, "BUS FAULT");
-    while (1) {asm ("nop");}
+    core_panic(PANIC_BUS_FAULT, "BUS FAULT");
 }
 
 void isr_usage_fault(void)
 {
-    core_panic(USAGE_FAULT, "USAGE FAULT");
-    while (1) {asm ("nop");}
+    core_panic(PANIC_USAGE_FAULT, "USAGE FAULT");
 }
 
 /* Cortex-M specific interrupt vectors */