diff --git a/dist/tools/testrunner/testrunner.py b/dist/tools/testrunner/testrunner.py
index f36da3bbea511e576bb5bb921bd3d31895974324..5b8e1f2ad6ebe089ce037a9cde75b03d4bc150a3 100755
--- a/dist/tools/testrunner/testrunner.py
+++ b/dist/tools/testrunner/testrunner.py
@@ -10,10 +10,15 @@
 import os, signal, sys, subprocess
 from pexpect import spawnu, TIMEOUT, EOF
 from traceback import print_tb
+import time
 
 def run(testfunc, timeout=10, echo=True, traceback=False):
     env = os.environ.copy()
     child = spawnu("make term", env=env, timeout=timeout)
+
+    # on many platforms, the termprog needs a short while to be ready...
+    time.sleep(3)
+
     if echo:
         child.logfile = sys.stdout