diff --git a/sys/include/phydat.h b/sys/include/phydat.h
index 57abe1dccede5a07891922eda77ed7d3dbb4df48..df49167eb6efffa83f05d12c6847453aff12e351 100644
--- a/sys/include/phydat.h
+++ b/sys/include/phydat.h
@@ -137,6 +137,16 @@ typedef struct {
     int8_t scale;               /**< the scale factor, 10^*scale* */
 } phydat_t;
 
+/**
+ * @brief   Minimum value for phydat_t::val
+ */
+#define PHYDAT_MIN  (INT16_MIN)
+
+/**
+ * @brief   Maximum value for phydat_t::val
+ */
+#define PHYDAT_MAX  (INT16_MAX)
+
 /**
  * @brief   Dump the given data container to STDIO
  *