diff --git a/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.dep b/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.dep
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5472bf8b8d8fd463a18815c0f10e5d348f90fe51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.dep
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+ifneq (,$(filter saul_default,$(USEMODULE)))
+  USEMODULE += saul_gpio
+endif
diff --git a/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.include b/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.include
index 3b357838c7d2e7eed3c9fa4a3197a480f98c2e9c..e41cc78bed8681b98f39b661df22994339adc09b 100644
--- a/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.include
+++ b/boards/arduino-common/Makefile.include
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 # define the cpu used by the arduino uno and duemilanove boards
 export CPU = atmega328p
 
+# include optional dependencies
+include $(RIOTBOARD)/arduino-common/Makefile.dep
+
 # define port used to flash the board
 OS = $(shell uname)
 ifeq ($(OS),Linux)
diff --git a/boards/arduino-common/include/gpio_params.h b/boards/arduino-common/include/gpio_params.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..bb502a0c2e60c7f13a4bff8596ab7c13388b9c5c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/boards/arduino-common/include/gpio_params.h
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 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   boards_arduino-common
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief     Board specific configuration of direct mapped GPIOs
+ *
+ * @author    Hauke Petersen <hauke.petersen@fu-berlin.de>
+ */
+
+#ifndef GPIO_PARAMS_H
+#define GPIO_PARAMS_H
+
+#include "board.h"
+#include "saul/periph.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief   LED configuration
+ */
+static const  saul_gpio_params_t saul_gpio_params[] =
+{
+    {
+        .name = "LED",
+        .pin = LED0_PIN,
+        .mode = GPIO_OUT
+    }
+};
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* GPIO_PARAMS_H */
+/** @} */