diff --git a/Makefile.include b/Makefile.include
index 77f021992dd9263769ca19f3ee36a1e18e31d209..3c19baad5d823333e142215cd46ae3e701569952 100644
--- a/Makefile.include
+++ b/Makefile.include
@@ -153,7 +153,12 @@ ifneq (0,$(shell test -d $(RIOTBOARD)/$(BOARD); echo $$?))
 endif
 
 # Use TOOLCHAIN environment variable to select the toolchain to use.
-# Default: gnu
+# Default for macOS: llvm; for other OS: gnu
+ifeq ($(BOARD),native)
+ifeq ($(OS),Darwin)
+TOOLCHAIN ?= llvm
+endif
+endif
 TOOLCHAIN ?= gnu
 
 # TOOLCHAIN = clang is an alias for TOOLCHAIN = llvm