diff --git a/sys/include/net/coap.h b/sys/include/net/coap.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..403dddbabf86946bb11ad02853bfb40cedcf6c10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sys/include/net/coap.h
@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+/*
+ * 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 net_coap CoAP defines
+ * @ingroup net
+ * @brief Generic CoAP values as defined by RFC7252
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief Generic CoAP values as defined by RFC7252
+ *
+ * @author Hauke Petersen <hauke.petersen@fu-berlin.de>
+ *
+ */
+
+#ifndef NET_COAP_H
+#define NET_COAP_H
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief Default CoAP port
+ */
+#define COAP_PORT (5683)
+
+/**
+ * @name CoAP option numbers
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_OPT_URI_HOST (3)
+#define COAP_OPT_OBSERVE (6)
+#define COAP_OPT_LOCATION_PATH (8)
+#define COAP_OPT_URI_PATH (11)
+#define COAP_OPT_CONTENT_FORMAT (12)
+#define COAP_OPT_URI_QUERY (15)
+#define COAP_OPT_LOCATION_QUERY (20)
+#define COAP_OPT_BLOCK2 (23)
+#define COAP_OPT_BLOCK1 (27)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Message types -- confirmable, non-confirmable, etc.
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_TYPE_CON (0)
+#define COAP_TYPE_NON (1)
+#define COAP_TYPE_ACK (2)
+#define COAP_TYPE_RST (3)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name CoAP method codes used in header
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_CLASS_REQ (0)
+#define COAP_METHOD_GET (1)
+#define COAP_METHOD_POST (2)
+#define COAP_METHOD_PUT (3)
+#define COAP_METHOD_DELETE (4)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Empty CoAP message code
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_CODE_EMPTY (0)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Response message codes: success
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_CLASS_SUCCESS (2)
+#define COAP_CODE_CREATED ((2 << 5) | 1)
+#define COAP_CODE_DELETED ((2 << 5) | 2)
+#define COAP_CODE_VALID ((2 << 5) | 3)
+#define COAP_CODE_CHANGED ((2 << 5) | 4)
+#define COAP_CODE_204 ((2 << 5) | 4)
+#define COAP_CODE_CONTENT ((2 << 5) | 5)
+#define COAP_CODE_205 ((2 << 5) | 5)
+#define COAP_CODE_231 ((2 << 5) | 31)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Response message codes: client error
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_CLASS_CLIENT_FAILURE (4)
+#define COAP_CODE_BAD_REQUEST ((4 << 5) | 0)
+#define COAP_CODE_UNAUTHORIZED ((4 << 5) | 1)
+#define COAP_CODE_BAD_OPTION ((4 << 5) | 2)
+#define COAP_CODE_FORBIDDEN ((4 << 5) | 3)
+#define COAP_CODE_PATH_NOT_FOUND ((4 << 5) | 4)
+#define COAP_CODE_404 ((4 << 5) | 4)
+#define COAP_CODE_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED ((4 << 5) | 5)
+#define COAP_CODE_NOT_ACCEPTABLE ((4 << 5) | 6)
+#define COAP_CODE_REQUEST_ENTITY_INCOMPLETE ((4 << 5) | 8)
+#define COAP_CODE_PRECONDITION_FAILED ((4 << 5) | 0xC)
+#define COAP_CODE_REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE ((4 << 5) | 0xD)
+#define COAP_CODE_UNSUPPORTED_CONTENT_FORMAT ((4 << 5) | 0xF)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Response message codes: server error
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_CLASS_SERVER_FAILURE (5)
+#define COAP_CODE_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR ((5 << 5) | 0)
+#define COAP_CODE_NOT_IMPLEMENTED ((5 << 5) | 1)
+#define COAP_CODE_BAD_GATEWAY ((5 << 5) | 2)
+#define COAP_CODE_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE ((5 << 5) | 3)
+#define COAP_CODE_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT ((5 << 5) | 4)
+#define COAP_CODE_PROXYING_NOT_SUPPORTED ((5 << 5) | 5)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Content types
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_CT_LINK_FORMAT (40)
+#define COAP_CT_XML (41)
+#define COAP_CT_OCTET_STREAM (42)
+#define COAP_CT_EXI (47)
+#define COAP_CT_JSON (50)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Content-Format option codes
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_FORMAT_TEXT (0)
+#define COAP_FORMAT_LINK (40)
+#define COAP_FORMAT_OCTET (42)
+#define COAP_FORMAT_JSON (50)
+#define COAP_FORMAT_CBOR (60)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Observe (RFC 7641) constants
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_OBS_REGISTER (0)
+#define COAP_OBS_DEREGISTER (1)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Timing parameters
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_ACK_TIMEOUT (2U)
+#define COAP_RANDOM_FACTOR (1.5)
+/**
+ * @brief Maximum variation for confirmable timeout.
+ *
+ * Must be an integer, defined as:
+ *
+ * (COAP_ACK_TIMEOUT * COAP_RANDOM_FACTOR) - COAP_ACK_TIMEOUT
+ */
+#define COAP_ACK_VARIANCE (1U)
+#define COAP_MAX_RETRANSMIT (4)
+#define COAP_NSTART (1)
+#define COAP_DEFAULT_LEISURE (5)
+/** @} */
+
+/**
+ * @name Blockwise transfer (RFC7959)
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_NUM_OFF (4)
+#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_MORE_OFF (3)
+#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_SZX_MASK (0x07)
+#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_SZX_MAX (7)
+/** @} */
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* NET_COAP_H */
+/** @} */
diff --git a/sys/include/net/nanocoap.h b/sys/include/net/nanocoap.h
index 2f83b38fb0af6403ecf3f7168494703eb2bf6307..5fadbaed9867aabe1f384b2a5baa8a09df7bc585 100644
--- a/sys/include/net/nanocoap.h
+++ b/sys/include/net/nanocoap.h
@@ -33,7 +33,9 @@
#ifdef RIOT_VERSION
#include "byteorder.h"
+#include "net/coap.h"
#else
+#include "coap.h"
#include <arpa/inet.h>
#endif
@@ -42,69 +44,7 @@ extern "C" {
#endif
/**
- * @brief CoAP port to use
- */
-#define COAP_PORT (5683)
-
-/**
- * @name Nanocoap specific maximum values
- * @{
- */
-#define NANOCOAP_NOPTS_MAX (16)
-#define NANOCOAP_URI_MAX (64)
-/** @} */
-
-#ifdef MODULE_GCOAP
-#define NANOCOAP_URL_MAX NANOCOAP_URI_MAX
-#define NANOCOAP_QS_MAX (64)
-#endif
-
-/**
- * @name CoAP option numbers
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_OPT_URI_HOST (3)
-#define COAP_OPT_OBSERVE (6)
-#define COAP_OPT_LOCATION_PATH (8)
-#define COAP_OPT_URI_PATH (11)
-#define COAP_OPT_CONTENT_FORMAT (12)
-#define COAP_OPT_URI_QUERY (15)
-#define COAP_OPT_LOCATION_QUERY (20)
-#define COAP_OPT_BLOCK2 (23)
-#define COAP_OPT_BLOCK1 (27)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name CoAP packet types
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_REQ (0)
-#define COAP_RESP (2)
-#define COAP_RST (3)
-
-/**
- * @name Message types -- confirmable, non-confirmable, etc.
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_TYPE_CON (0)
-#define COAP_TYPE_NON (1)
-#define COAP_TYPE_ACK (2)
-#define COAP_TYPE_RST (3)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name CoAP method codes used in header
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_CLASS_REQ (0)
-#define COAP_METHOD_GET (1)
-#define COAP_METHOD_POST (2)
-#define COAP_METHOD_PUT (3)
-#define COAP_METHOD_DELETE (4)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name CoAP method flags used in coap_handlers array
+ * @name Nanocoap specific CoAP method flags used in coap_handlers array
* @{
*/
#define COAP_GET (0x1)
@@ -114,120 +54,22 @@ extern "C" {
/** @} */
/**
- * @name Empty CoAP message code
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_CODE_EMPTY (0)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name Response message codes: success
- * @{
+ * @brief Nanocoap-specific value to indicate no format specified
*/
-#define COAP_CLASS_SUCCESS (2)
-#define COAP_CODE_CREATED ((2 << 5) | 1)
-#define COAP_CODE_DELETED ((2 << 5) | 2)
-#define COAP_CODE_VALID ((2 << 5) | 3)
-#define COAP_CODE_CHANGED ((2 << 5) | 4)
-#define COAP_CODE_204 ((2 << 5) | 4)
-#define COAP_CODE_CONTENT ((2 << 5) | 5)
-#define COAP_CODE_205 ((2 << 5) | 5)
-#define COAP_CODE_231 ((2 << 5) | 31)
-/** @} */
+#define COAP_FORMAT_NONE (65535)
/**
- * @name Response message codes: client error
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_CLASS_CLIENT_FAILURE (4)
-#define COAP_CODE_BAD_REQUEST ((4 << 5) | 0)
-#define COAP_CODE_UNAUTHORIZED ((4 << 5) | 1)
-#define COAP_CODE_BAD_OPTION ((4 << 5) | 2)
-#define COAP_CODE_FORBIDDEN ((4 << 5) | 3)
-#define COAP_CODE_PATH_NOT_FOUND ((4 << 5) | 4)
-#define COAP_CODE_404 ((4 << 5) | 4)
-#define COAP_CODE_METHOD_NOT_ALLOWED ((4 << 5) | 5)
-#define COAP_CODE_NOT_ACCEPTABLE ((4 << 5) | 6)
-#define COAP_CODE_REQUEST_ENTITY_INCOMPLETE ((4 << 5) | 8)
-#define COAP_CODE_PRECONDITION_FAILED ((4 << 5) | 0xC)
-#define COAP_CODE_REQUEST_ENTITY_TOO_LARGE ((4 << 5) | 0xD)
-#define COAP_CODE_UNSUPPORTED_CONTENT_FORMAT ((4 << 5) | 0xF)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name Response message codes: server error
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_CLASS_SERVER_FAILURE (5)
-#define COAP_CODE_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR ((5 << 5) | 0)
-#define COAP_CODE_NOT_IMPLEMENTED ((5 << 5) | 1)
-#define COAP_CODE_BAD_GATEWAY ((5 << 5) | 2)
-#define COAP_CODE_SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE ((5 << 5) | 3)
-#define COAP_CODE_GATEWAY_TIMEOUT ((5 << 5) | 4)
-#define COAP_CODE_PROXYING_NOT_SUPPORTED ((5 << 5) | 5)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name Content types
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_CT_LINK_FORMAT (40)
-#define COAP_CT_XML (41)
-#define COAP_CT_OCTET_STREAM (42)
-#define COAP_CT_EXI (47)
-#define COAP_CT_JSON (50)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name Content-Format option codes
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_FORMAT_TEXT (0)
-#define COAP_FORMAT_LINK (40)
-#define COAP_FORMAT_OCTET (42)
-#define COAP_FORMAT_JSON (50)
-#define COAP_FORMAT_CBOR (60)
-/** @brief nanocoap-specific value to indicate no format specified. */
-#define COAP_FORMAT_NONE (65535)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name Observe (RFC 7641) constants
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_OBS_REGISTER (0)
-#define COAP_OBS_DEREGISTER (1)
-/** @} */
-
-/**
- * @name Timing parameters
+ * @name Nanocoap specific maximum values
* @{
*/
-#define COAP_ACK_TIMEOUT (2U)
-#define COAP_RANDOM_FACTOR (1.5)
-
-/**
- * @brief Maximum variation for confirmable timeout.
- *
- * Must be an integer, defined as:
- *
- * (COAP_ACK_TIMEOUT * COAP_RANDOM_FACTOR) - COAP_ACK_TIMEOUT
- */
-#define COAP_ACK_VARIANCE (1U)
-#define COAP_MAX_RETRANSMIT (4)
-#define COAP_NSTART (1)
-#define COAP_DEFAULT_LEISURE (5)
+#define NANOCOAP_NOPTS_MAX (16)
+#define NANOCOAP_URI_MAX (64)
/** @} */
-/**
- * @name Blockwise transfer (RFC7959)
- * @{
- */
-#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_NUM_OFF (4)
-#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_MORE_OFF (3)
-#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_SZX_MASK (0x07)
-#define COAP_BLOCKWISE_SZX_MAX (7)
-/** @} */
+#ifdef MODULE_GCOAP
+#define NANOCOAP_URL_MAX NANOCOAP_URI_MAX
+#define NANOCOAP_QS_MAX (64)
+#endif
/**
* @name coap_opt_finish() flag parameter values
diff --git a/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c b/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c
index 420d742c706dbded3e5664493e2ec4a6868d6bca..73e39ed15d085480446daa8cf5844c38985fe460 100644
--- a/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c
+++ b/sys/net/application_layer/nanocoap/nanocoap.c
@@ -30,6 +30,15 @@
#define ENABLE_DEBUG (0)
#include "debug.h"
+/**
+ * @name Internally used CoAP packet types
+ * @{
+ */
+#define COAP_REQ (0)
+#define COAP_RESP (2)
+#define COAP_RST (3)
+/** @} */
+
static int _decode_value(unsigned val, uint8_t **pkt_pos_ptr, uint8_t *pkt_end);
int coap_get_option_uint(coap_pkt_t *pkt, unsigned opt_num, uint32_t *target);
static uint32_t _decode_uint(uint8_t *pkt_pos, unsigned nbytes);