diff --git a/sys/include/net/gnrc/netif/conf.h b/sys/include/net/gnrc/netif/conf.h
index 381ef4ceb54fe6b3b61607ec6787446458f381b5..c16ab77b41a24304c1783586a6b3d898c86efda1 100644
--- a/sys/include/net/gnrc/netif/conf.h
+++ b/sys/include/net/gnrc/netif/conf.h
@@ -46,6 +46,17 @@ extern "C" {
 #define GNRC_NETIF_PRIO            (THREAD_PRIORITY_MAIN - 5)
 #endif
 
+/**
+ * @brief       Message queue size for network interface threads
+ *
+ * @attention   This has influence on the used stack memory of the thread, so
+ *              the thread's stack size might need to be adapted if this is
+ *              changed.
+ */
+#ifndef GNRC_NETIF_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE
+#define GNRC_NETIF_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE  (8U)
+#endif
+
 /**
  * @brief   Number of multicast addresses needed for @ref net_gnrc_rpl "RPL".
  *
diff --git a/sys/net/gnrc/netif/gnrc_netif.c b/sys/net/gnrc/netif/gnrc_netif.c
index f4f1b0f7cd3e84e5c91e349f7a6c1dc20a73768e..e226b26e9920d927284c53d52970fc6824d02195 100644
--- a/sys/net/gnrc/netif/gnrc_netif.c
+++ b/sys/net/gnrc/netif/gnrc_netif.c
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@
 #define ENABLE_DEBUG    (0)
 #include "debug.h"
 
-#define _NETIF_NETAPI_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE    (8)
-
 static gnrc_netif_t _netifs[GNRC_NETIF_NUMOF];
 
 static void _update_l2addr_from_dev(gnrc_netif_t *netif);
@@ -1170,7 +1168,7 @@ static void *_gnrc_netif_thread(void *args)
     netdev_t *dev;
     int res;
     msg_t reply = { .type = GNRC_NETAPI_MSG_TYPE_ACK };
-    msg_t msg, msg_queue[_NETIF_NETAPI_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE];
+    msg_t msg, msg_queue[GNRC_NETIF_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE];
 
     DEBUG("gnrc_netif: starting thread %i\n", sched_active_pid);
     netif = args;
@@ -1178,7 +1176,7 @@ static void *_gnrc_netif_thread(void *args)
     dev = netif->dev;
     netif->pid = sched_active_pid;
     /* setup the link-layer's message queue */
-    msg_init_queue(msg_queue, _NETIF_NETAPI_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE);
+    msg_init_queue(msg_queue, GNRC_NETIF_MSG_QUEUE_SIZE);
     /* register the event callback with the device driver */
     dev->event_callback = _event_cb;
     dev->context = netif;