diff --git a/include/libopencm3/dispatch/nvic.h b/include/libopencm3/dispatch/nvic.h
index 67ba5448..d8e7889a 100644
--- a/include/libopencm3/dispatch/nvic.h
+++ b/include/libopencm3/dispatch/nvic.h
@@ -15,6 +15,5 @@
 #	warning"no chipset defined; user interrupts are disabled"
 
 #define NVIC_IRQ_COUNT 0
-#define IRQ_HANDLERS
 
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/cm3/vector.c b/lib/cm3/vector.c
index 7b660f90..e0c29721 100644
--- a/lib/cm3/vector.c
+++ b/lib/cm3/vector.c
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@
 
 /* load optional platform dependent initialization routines */
 #include "../dispatch/vector.c"
+/* load the weak symbols for IRQ_HANDLERS */
+#include <libopencm3/dispatch/vector_nvic.h>
 
 #define WEAK __attribute__ ((weak))
 
diff --git a/scripts/irq2nvic_h b/scripts/irq2nvic_h
index 9346e9bf..fc5e5717 100755
--- a/scripts/irq2nvic_h
+++ b/scripts/irq2nvic_h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ method to achive the same thing with C preprocessor is known to the author.
 import sys
 import yaml
 
-template = '''\
+template_nvic_h = '''\
 /* This file is part of the libopencm3 project.
  *
  * It was generated by the irq2nvic_h script.
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ template = '''\
 #ifndef {includeguard}
 #define {includeguard}
 
+#include <libopencm3/cm3/nvic.h>
+
 /** @defgroup CM3_nvic_defines_{partname_doxygen} User interrupts for {partname_humanreadable}
     @ingroup CM3_nvic_defines
 
@@ -60,6 +62,19 @@ template = '''\
 
 /**@}}*/
 
+#endif /* {includeguard} */
+'''
+
+template_vector_nvic_h = '''\
+/* This file is part of the libopencm3 project.
+ *
+ * It was generated by the irq2nvic_h script.
+ *
+ * This part needs to get included in the compilation unit where
+ * blocking_handler gets defined due to the way #pragma works.
+ */
+
+
 /** @defgroup CM3_nvic_isrpragmas_{partname_doxygen} User interrupt service routines (ISR) defaults for {partname_humanreadable}
     @ingroup CM3_nvic_isrpragmas
 
@@ -76,11 +91,9 @@ template = '''\
 
 #define IRQ_HANDLERS \\
     {vectortableinitialization}
-
-#endif /* {includeguard} */
 '''
 
-def convert(infile, outfile):
+def convert(infile, outfile_nvic, outfile_vectornvic):
     data = yaml.load(infile)
 
     irq2name = list(enumerate(data['irqs']) if isinstance(data['irqs'], list) else data['irqs'].items())
@@ -96,10 +109,14 @@ def convert(infile, outfile):
     data['isrpragmas'] = "\n".join('#pragma weak %s_isr = blocking_handler'%name.lower() for name in irqnames)
     data['vectortableinitialization'] = ', \\\n    '.join('[NVIC_%s_IRQ] = %s_isr'%(name.upper(), name.lower()) for name in irqnames)
 
-    outfile.write(template.format(**data))
+    outfile_nvic.write(template_nvic_h.format(**data))
+    # FIXME: the vector_nvic.h file could just as well be a vector_nvic.c file
+    # in lib/, but that'd spread this mechanism over the whole library; just
+    # needs some thingking over
+    outfile_vectornvic.write(template_vector_nvic_h.format(**data))
 
 def main():
-    convert(open('irq.yaml'), open('nvic.h', 'w'))
+    convert(open('irq.yaml'), open('nvic.h', 'w'), open('vector_nvic.h', 'w'))
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     main()