diff --git a/tests/Makefile.tests_common b/tests/Makefile.tests_common
index cc8dc55b5cb1..42825c56ddc3 100644
--- a/tests/Makefile.tests_common
+++ b/tests/Makefile.tests_common
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 APPLICATION ?= tests_$(notdir $(patsubst %/,%,$(CURDIR)))
 
+# for these boards, enable asan (Address Sanitizer)
+ASAN_BOARDS ?= native native64
+ifneq (, $(filter $(ASAN_BOARDS), $(BOARD)))
+  CFLAGS += $(CFLAGS_ASAN)
+  LINKFLAGS += $(LINKFLAGS_ASAN)
+endif
+
 ifneq (,$(wildcard $(CURDIR)/tests*/.))
   # add interactive test configuration when testing Kconfig
   DEFAULT_MODULE += test_utils_interactive_sync
diff --git a/tests/unittests/Makefile b/tests/unittests/Makefile
index cc9bdd02172f..2a56ed81fd70 100644
--- a/tests/unittests/Makefile
+++ b/tests/unittests/Makefile
@@ -37,13 +37,6 @@ INCLUDES += -I$(RIOTBASE)/tests/unittests/common
 CFLAGS += -DTHREAD_STACKSIZE_MAIN=THREAD_STACKSIZE_LARGE
 CFLAGS += -DCONFIG_CORE_EXIT_WITH_MAIN=1
 
-# for these boards, enable asan (Address Sanitizer)
-ASAN_BOARDS ?= native native64
-ifneq (, $(filter $(ASAN_BOARDS), $(BOARD)))
-  CFLAGS += $(CFLAGS_ASAN)
-  LINKFLAGS += $(LINKFLAGS_ASAN)
-endif
-
 include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.include
 
 .PHONY: $(UNIT_TESTS)
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/Makefile b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..48422e909a47
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+include $(RIOTBASE)/Makefile.base
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/Makefile.include b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/Makefile.include
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e69de29bb2d1
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/tests-asan.c b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/tests-asan.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e68b254ec365
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/tests-asan.c
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2024 Christian Amsüss
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @author  Christian Amsüss <chrysn@fsfe.org>
+ */
+
+#include <stdint.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+#include "tests-asan.h"
+
+static void __attribute__ ((noinline)) read_10(uint8_t *source)
+{
+    printf("Read %d\n", source[10]);
+}
+
+static void tests_read_beyond_buf(void)
+{
+    uint8_t source[5] = {0, };
+    read_10(&source[0]);
+}
+
+Test *tests_asan_tests(void)
+{
+    EMB_UNIT_TESTFIXTURES(fixtures) {
+        new_TestFixture(tests_read_beyond_buf),
+    };
+
+    EMB_UNIT_TESTCALLER(asan_tests, NULL, NULL, fixtures);
+
+    return (Test *)&asan_tests;
+}
+
+void tests_asan_canary(void)
+{
+    TESTS_RUN(tests_asan_tests());
+}
diff --git a/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/tests-asan.h b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/tests-asan.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e1797a1a6f67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unittests/tests-asan_canary/tests-asan.h
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2024 Christian Amsüss
+ *
+ * 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.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @addtogroup  unittests
+ * @{
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @brief   Unittests canary for address sanitizer violations
+ *
+ * @author  Christian Amsüss <chrysn@fsfe.org>
+ */
+#ifndef TESTS_ASAN_H
+#define TESTS_ASAN_H
+
+#include "embUnit.h"
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/**
+ * @brief   The entry point of this test suite.
+ *
+ * If this test passes, the address sanitizer was not active.
+ */
+void tests_asan(void);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
+
+#endif /* TESTS_ASAN_H */
+/** @} */