diff --git a/examples/Makefile-cc1352 b/examples/Makefile-cc1352
index fc99eaa4c..d0ca3070c 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile-cc1352
+++ b/examples/Makefile-cc1352
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ configure_OPTIONS                                          = \
     MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(CC1352_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"            \
     $(NULL)
 
+ifneq ($(DISABLE_BUILTIN_MBEDTLS), 1)
+configure_OPTIONS              += MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(CC1352_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"
+endif
+
 DEFAULT_LOGGING                                           ?= 1
 
 CC1352_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS                                    = \
diff --git a/examples/Makefile-cc2652 b/examples/Makefile-cc2652
index e0a5dd65c..d0f6ef0b5 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile-cc2652
+++ b/examples/Makefile-cc2652
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ configure_OPTIONS                                          = \
     MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(CC2652_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"            \
     $(NULL)
 
+ifneq ($(DISABLE_BUILTIN_MBEDTLS), 1)
+configure_OPTIONS              += MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(CC2652_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"
+endif
+
 DEFAULT_LOGGING                                           ?= 1
 
 CC2652_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS                                    = \
diff --git a/examples/Makefile-da15000 b/examples/Makefile-da15000
index 24c2ce42c..8d97072c9 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile-da15000
+++ b/examples/Makefile-da15000
@@ -53,6 +53,10 @@ configure_OPTIONS               = \
     MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(DA15000_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)" \
     $(NULL)
 
+ifneq ($(DISABLE_BUILTIN_MBEDTLS), 1)
+configure_OPTIONS              += MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(DA15000_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"
+endif
+
 TopSourceDir                    := $(dir $(shell readlink $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))..
 AbsTopSourceDir                 := $(dir $(realpath $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))..
 
diff --git a/examples/Makefile-efr32 b/examples/Makefile-efr32
index 811271890..65d7ef64c 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile-efr32
+++ b/examples/Makefile-efr32
@@ -54,6 +54,10 @@ configure_OPTIONS               = \
     MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(EFR32_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)" \
     $(NULL)
 
+ifneq ($(DISABLE_BUILTIN_MBEDTLS), 1)
+configure_OPTIONS              += MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(EFR32_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"
+endif
+
 TopSourceDir                    := $(dir $(shell readlink $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))..
 AbsTopSourceDir                 := $(dir $(realpath $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))..
 
diff --git a/examples/Makefile-nrf52840 b/examples/Makefile-nrf52840
index 43a72b4ef..4efb1e472 100644
--- a/examples/Makefile-nrf52840
+++ b/examples/Makefile-nrf52840
@@ -51,9 +51,12 @@ configure_OPTIONS                                 = \
     --enable-radio-only                             \
     --enable-linker-map                             \
     --with-examples=nrf52840                        \
-    MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(NRF52840_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)" \
     $(NULL)
 
+ifneq ($(DISABLE_BUILTIN_MBEDTLS), 1)
+configure_OPTIONS              += MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS="$(NRF52840_MBEDTLS_CPPFLAGS)"
+endif
+
 ifdef SRC_PATH
 configure_OPTIONS              += --srcdir="$(SRC_PATH)"
 endif
diff --git a/examples/common-switches.mk b/examples/common-switches.mk
index 944043514..be57e3ddf 100644
--- a/examples/common-switches.mk
+++ b/examples/common-switches.mk
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ ifeq ($(UDP_FORWARD),1)
 configure_OPTIONS              += --enable-udp-forward
 endif
 
+ifeq ($(DISABLE_BUILTIN_MBEDTLS), 1)
+configure_OPTIONS              += --disable-builtin-mbedtls
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(DEBUG_UART),1)
 CFLAGS   += -DOPENTHREAD_CONFIG_ENABLE_DEBUG_UART=1
 CXXFLAGS += -DOPENTHREAD_CONFIG_ENABLE_DEBUG_UART=1