diff --git a/doc/doxygen/src/creating-modules.md b/doc/doxygen/src/creating-modules.md
index 776024be7fa223df943790b3035041e0758f8592..55ad515e2dcbefe74bc6c76e28b2128c5a4568a9 100644
--- a/doc/doxygen/src/creating-modules.md
+++ b/doc/doxygen/src/creating-modules.md
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ The external module can optionally define the following files:
   API headers include paths to the `USEMODULE_INCLUDES` variable.
 * `Makefile.dep` file to set module dependencies
 
+An example can be found in
+[`tests/external_module_dirs`](https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/tree/master/tests/external_module_dirs)
+
 Pseudomodules                                                  {#pseudomodules}
 =============
 Pseudomodules are modules that do not have any code. Their main use cases are
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/Makefile b/tests/external_module_dirs/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0a0c17fb7e7242f2fc5f08173239b5250531a4d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+APPLICATION = external_module_dirs
+BOARD ?= native
+RIOTBASE ?= $(CURDIR)/../..
+
+USEMODULE += random
+
+USEMODULE += external_module
+EXTERNAL_MODULE_DIRS += $(CURDIR)/external_module
+
+include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/README.md b/tests/external_module_dirs/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..e19e6b36b873619cd8207fdf2f5fbcb595a43aa3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+Test of `EXTERNAL_MODULE_DIRS` handling
+=======================================
+
+This is a test for the `EXTERNAL_MODULE_DIRS` variable.
+
+It demonstrates:
+
+ * Adding a module with source code
+ * Setting a header include directory
+ * Adding dependencies, which are evaluated before other modules dependencies
+
+If the application compiles, everything is ok.
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..48422e909a47d7cd428d10fa73825060ccc8d8c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.base
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile.dep b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile.dep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..970cc1be9dc573422d171b84d328d82acdb3c2fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile.dep
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+USEMODULE += random
+# Set a different prng than the default prng_tinymt32
+USEMODULE += prng_xorshift
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile.include b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile.include
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ced920dbfb8b3f883aff2274ab986a301c0c6eec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/Makefile.include
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Use an immediate variable to evaluate `MAKEFILE_LIST` now
+USEMODULE_INCLUDES_external_module := $(abspath $(dir $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))/include
+USEMODULE_INCLUDES += $(USEMODULE_INCLUDES_external_module)
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/external_module.c b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/external_module.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..31b679f8aa5f88f1b106d07dcc7f2d3272ca5843
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/external_module.c
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 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.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup     tests
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief       Test the EXTERNAL_MODULE_DIRS feature
+ * @note        Define a shared variable
+ *
+ * @author      Gaëtan Harter <gaetan.harter@fu-berlin.de>
+ *
+ * @}
+ */
+
+#include "external_module.h"
+
+char *external_module_message = "Linking worked";
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/include/external_module.h b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/include/external_module.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f358ef4786d881db7800b7dc206d5bc82f00f5ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/external_module/include/external_module.h
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 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.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @defgroup
+ * @ingroup
+ * @brief
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief
+ *
+ * @author  Gaëtan Harter <gaetan.harter@fu-berlin.de>
+ */
+#ifndef EXTERNAL_MODULE_H
+#define EXTERNAL_MODULE_H
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief   A simple string message
+ */
+extern char *external_module_message;
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+/** @} */
+#endif /* EXTERNAL_MODULE_H */
diff --git a/tests/external_module_dirs/main.c b/tests/external_module_dirs/main.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..9695fb682611a7442ec3f04996d85e0f606e95ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/external_module_dirs/main.c
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2018 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.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @ingroup     tests
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief       Test the EXTERNAL_MODULE_DIRS feature
+ *
+ * @author      Gaëtan Harter <gaetan.harter@fu-berlin.de>
+ *
+ * @}
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "external_module.h"
+
+#ifdef MODULE_PRNG_TINYMT32
+#error "Error: it included the default dependency"
+#endif
+
+#ifndef MODULE_PRNG_XORSHIFT
+#error "Dependency not included"
+#endif
+
+int main(void)
+{
+    puts("If it compiles, it works!");
+    printf("Message: %s\n", external_module_message);
+    return 0;
+}