diff --git a/Makefile.common b/Makefile.common
index ff01f4f5..4bd555d0 100644
--- a/Makefile.common
+++ b/Makefile.common
@@ -20,8 +20,9 @@ TARGET_FAMILY ?= $(firstword $(subst -, ,$(TARGET)-))
 TARGET_SUBFAMILY ?= $(word 2,$(subst -, ,$(TARGET)-))
 
 # reset env variables
-CFLAGS :=
-CXXFLAGS :=
+CFLAGS :=          # flags related to C files compilation
+CXXFLAGS :=        # flags related to C++ files compilation
+CPPFLAGS :=        # flags for C preprocessor (C & C++)
 LDFLAGS :=
 LDFLAGS_PREFIX :=
 
@@ -34,8 +35,7 @@ ifneq ($(filter-out -O%,$(OLVL)),)
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(DEBUG), 1)
-  CFLAGS += -DNDEBUG
-  CXXFLAGS += -DNDEBUG
+  CPPFLAGS += -DNDEBUG
 endif
 
 TOPDIR := $(CURDIR)
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@ ALL_COMPONENTS :=
 PREFIX_FS ?= $(abspath $(CURDIR)/../_fs/$(TARGET))
 PREFIX_ROOTFS ?= $(PREFIX_FS)/root/
 
-# Check TARGET and set building options
-include $(MAKES_PATH)/check-target.mk
+# Check TARGET, set TARGET_SUFF and include target building options
+include $(MAKES_PATH)/include-target.mk
 
 # setup tools
 include $(MAKES_PATH)/setup-tools.mk
@@ -81,18 +81,19 @@ $(info cleaning targets, make parallelism disabled)
 .NOTPARALLEL:
 endif
 
-# Distribute the __TARGET and __CPU defines
-CFLAGS += -D__TARGET_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_FAMILY))
-CXXFLAGS += -D__TARGET_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_FAMILY))
-
-CFLAGS += -D__CPU_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_SUBFAMILY))
-CXXFLAGS += -D__CPU_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_SUBFAMILY))
-
-# generic CFLAGS/LDFLAGS
+#
+# generic *FLAGS options
+#
+# common include/lib paths
 LDFLAGS += -L$(PREFIX_A)
+ifneq ($(KERNEL), 1)
+  CFLAGS += -I$(PREFIX_H)
+  CXXFLAGS += -I$(PREFIX_H)
+endif
 
 # make PROJECT_PATH the first search dir to allow project customizations/monkey-patching
 CFLAGS := -I$(PROJECT_PATH) $(CFLAGS)
+CXXFLAGS := -I$(PROJECT_PATH) $(CXXFLAGS)
 
 # add multilib directory to library search path
 SYSROOT := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-sysroot)
@@ -104,10 +105,31 @@ LDFLAGS += -L$(LIBC_INSTALL_DIR)
 CFLAGS += -fmacro-prefix-map=$(dir $(TOPDIR))=
 CXXFLAGS += -fmacro-prefix-map=$(dir $(TOPDIR))=
 
-ifneq ($(KERNEL), 1)
-  CFLAGS += -I$(PREFIX_H)
-  CXXFLAGS += -I$(PREFIX_H)
-endif
+# garbage-collect unused code/data
+# NOTE: exported to ports also as it reduces binaries size greatly
+CFLAGS += -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections
+LDFLAGS += $(LDFLAGS_PREFIX)--gc-sections
+
+### right now we should have only target-necessary flags, save them for exporting (for building ports) ###
+EXPORT_CFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
+EXPORT_CXXFLAGS := $(CXXFLAGS)
+EXPORT_LDFLAGS := $(LDFLAGS)
+
+# add our coding-style related options
+CFLAGS += -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes
+CXXFLAGS += -Wall
+
+# always produce binaries with debug information
+CFLAGS += -ggdb3
+CXXFLAGS += -ggdb3
+
+# set optimization level (target/project-dependant)
+CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
+CXXFLAGS += $(OLVL)
+
+# Distribute the __TARGET and __CPU defines
+CPPFLAGS += -D__TARGET_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_FAMILY))
+CPPFLAGS += -D__CPU_$(call uppercase,$(TARGET_SUBFAMILY))
 
 #
 # Generic rules
@@ -115,13 +137,13 @@ endif
 .PHONY: help export-cflags export-cxxflags export-ldflags
 
 export-cflags:
-	@echo $(CFLAGS)
+	@echo $(EXPORT_CFLAGS)
 
 export-cxxflags:
-	@echo $(CXXFLAGS)
+	@echo $(EXPORT_CXXFLAGS)
 
 export-ldflags:
-	@echo $(LDFLAGS)
+	@echo $(EXPORT_LDFLAGS)
 
 help:
 	$(info DEFAULT_COMPONENTS := $(DEFAULT_COMPONENTS))
@@ -168,26 +190,26 @@ INSTALL_FS = $(SIL)printf "INSTALL %s\n" "$(@:$(PREFIX_ROOTFS)%=%)"; \
 $(PREFIX_O)%.o: %.c
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
 	@printf "CC  %-24s\n" "$<"
-	$(SIL)$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) "$(abspath $<)" -o "$@"
-	$(SIL)$(CC) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.c.d -MT "$@" $(CFLAGS) $<
+	$(SIL)$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) "$(abspath $<)" -o "$@"
+	$(SIL)$(CC) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.c.d -MT "$@" $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $<
 
 $(PREFIX_O)%.o: %.cc
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
 	@printf "CXX  %-24s\n" "$<"
-	$(SIL)$(CXX) -c $(CXXFLAGS) "$(abspath $<)" -o "$@"
-	$(SIL)$(CXX) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.cc.d -MT "$@" $(CXXFLAGS) $<
+	$(SIL)$(CXX) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) "$(abspath $<)" -o "$@"
+	$(SIL)$(CXX) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.cc.d -MT "$@" $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) $<
 
 $(PREFIX_O)%.o: %.cpp
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
 	@printf "CXX  %-24s\n" "$<"
-	$(SIL)$(CXX) -c $(CXXFLAGS) "$(abspath $<)" -o "$@"
-	$(SIL)$(CXX) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.cpp.d -MT "$@" $(CXXFLAGS) $<
+	$(SIL)$(CXX) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) "$(abspath $<)" -o "$@"
+	$(SIL)$(CXX) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.cpp.d -MT "$@" $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) $<
 
 $(PREFIX_O)%.o: %.S
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
 	@printf "ASM %-24s\n" "$<"
-	$(SIL)$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) "$<" -o "$@"
-	$(SIL)$(CC) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.S.d -MT "$@" $(CFLAGS) $<
+	$(SIL)$(CC) -c $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) "$<" -o "$@"
+	$(SIL)$(CC) -M  -MD -MP -MF $(PREFIX_O)$*.S.d -MT "$@" $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) $<
 
 $(PREFIX_PROG_STRIPPED)%: $(PREFIX_PROG)%
 	@mkdir -p $(@D)
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 1a480ac8..4eef8432 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+# shellcheck source-path=SCRIPTDIR/..
 #
 # Shell script for building Phoenix-RTOS based firmware
 #
@@ -60,8 +61,8 @@ export TARGET TARGET_FAMILY TARGET_SUBFAMILY TARGET_PROJECT PROJECT_PATH PREFIX_
 
 # export flags for ports - call make only after all necessary env variables are already set
 EXPORT_CFLAGS="$(make -f phoenix-rtos-build/Makefile.common export-cflags)"
-# export only generic flags: "-z xxx", "-Lxxx", "-q"
-EXPORT_LDFLAGS="$(make -f phoenix-rtos-build/Makefile.common export-ldflags | grep -E -o "(-z [^ ]+)|(-L[^ ]+)|(-q)" | xargs)"
+# Convert ldflags to format recognizable by gcc, for example -q -> -Wl,-q
+EXPORT_LDFLAGS="$(make -f phoenix-rtos-build/Makefile.common export-ldflags | sed "s/\s/,/g" | sed 's/^-\|,-/ -Wl,-/g')"
 
 export EXPORT_CFLAGS EXPORT_LDFLAGS
 
diff --git a/makes/check-target.mk b/makes/include-target.mk
similarity index 96%
rename from makes/check-target.mk
rename to makes/include-target.mk
index bf2923bd..09f3ea36 100644
--- a/makes/check-target.mk
+++ b/makes/include-target.mk
@@ -77,4 +77,4 @@ ifeq (,$(filter $(TARGETS),$(TARGET_FAMILY)-$(TARGET_SUBFAMILY)))
   $(error $(MESSAGE)$(LF)Available targets:$(LF)$(subst $(SPACE),$(LF),$(sort $(TARGETS))$(LF)))
 endif
 
-include $(MAKES_PATH)/../Makefile.$(TARGET_SUFF)
+include $(MAKES_PATH)/../target/$(TARGET_SUFF).mk
diff --git a/Makefile.armv7a b/target/armv7a.mk
similarity index 79%
rename from Makefile.armv7a
rename to target/armv7a.mk
index 00334004..94bbcbb5 100644
--- a/Makefile.armv7a
+++ b/target/armv7a.mk
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ CC := $(CROSS)gcc
 CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 OLVL ?= -O2
-CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
 
 cpu := cortex-$(subst armv7,,$(TARGET_FAMILY))
 
@@ -24,19 +23,14 @@ else
 	$(error Incorrect TARGET.)
 endif
 
-CFLAGS += -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -g\
-		-mcpu=$(cpu) -mtune=$(cpu) -mthumb\
-		-fomit-frame-pointer -mno-unaligned-access -fdata-sections -ffunction-sections
-
-CXXFLAGS += $(filter-out -Wstrict-prototypes, $(CFLAGS))
-
-VADDR_KERNEL_INIT = 0xc0000000
+CFLAGS += -mcpu=$(cpu) -mtune=$(cpu) -mthumb -fomit-frame-pointer -mno-unaligned-access
+CXXFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
 
 AR = $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
 
 LD = $(CROSS)ld
-LDFLAGS = -z max-page-size=0x1000 --gc-sections
+LDFLAGS = -z max-page-size=0x1000
 GCCLIB := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-libgcc-file-name)
 CRTBEGIN := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-file-name=crtbegin.o)
 CRTEND := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-file-name=crtend.o)
diff --git a/Makefile.armv7m b/target/armv7m.mk
similarity index 71%
rename from Makefile.armv7m
rename to target/armv7m.mk
index 7ab7aaa0..77f5bbbf 100644
--- a/Makefile.armv7m
+++ b/target/armv7m.mk
@@ -13,11 +13,8 @@ CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 # common Cortex-M CFLAGS
 OLVL ?= -O2
-CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
-CFLAGS += -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -g
 CFLAGS += -mthumb -fomit-frame-pointer -mno-unaligned-access
-CFLAGS += -DNOMMU
-CFLAGS += -fdata-sections -ffunction-sections
+CPPFLAGS += -DNOMMU
 
 ifeq ($(TARGET_FAMILY), armv7m7)
   CFLAGS += -mcpu=cortex-m7 -mfloat-abi=hard -mfpu=fpv5-d16
@@ -28,45 +25,43 @@ else ifeq ($(TARGET_FAMILY), armv7m3)
 endif
 
 ifeq ($(TARGET_SUBFAMILY), stm32l152xd)
-	RAM_SIZE=48
-	VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0800d000
-	KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
+  VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0800d000
+  KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
 else ifeq ($(TARGET_SUBFAMILY), stm32l152xe)
-	RAM_SIZE=80
-	VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0800d000
-	KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
+  VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0800d000
+  KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
 else ifeq ($(TARGET_SUBFAMILY), stm32l4x6)
-	RAM_SIZE=320
-	VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0800d000
-	KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
+  VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0800d000
+  KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
 else ifeq ($(TARGET_SUBFAMILY), imxrt105x)
-	VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0
-	KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
+  VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0
+  KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
 else ifeq ($(TARGET_SUBFAMILY), imxrt106x)
-	VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0
-	KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
+  VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0
+  KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
 else ifeq ($(TARGET_SUBFAMILY), imxrt117x)
-	VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0
-	KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
+  VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=0
+  KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE=-DNOMMU
 else
-	$(error Incorrect TARGET.)
+  $(error Incorrect TARGET: $(TARGET))
 endif
 
 
-LDFLAGS := -z max-page-size=0x10 --gc-sections
+LDFLAGS := -z max-page-size=0x10
 
 ifeq ($(KERNEL), 1)
-  CFLAGS += -DRAM_SIZE=$(RAM_SIZE) $(KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE) -ffixed-r9
+  CPPFLAGS += $(KERNEL_TARGET_DEFINE)
+  CFLAGS += -ffixed-r9
   LDFLAGS += -Tbss=20000000 -Tdata=20000000
   STRIP = $(CROSS)strip
 else
   CFLAGS += -fpic -fpie -msingle-pic-base -mno-pic-data-is-text-relative
-	# output .rel.* sections to make ELF position-independent
+  # output .rel.* sections to make ELF position-independent
   LDFLAGS += -q
   STRIP = $(PREFIX_PROJECT)/phoenix-rtos-build/scripts/strip.py $(CROSS)strip --strip-unneeded -R .rel.text
 endif
 
-CXXFLAGS += $(filter-out -Wstrict-prototypes, $(CFLAGS))
+CXXFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
 
 AR = $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
diff --git a/Makefile.host b/target/host.mk
similarity index 74%
rename from Makefile.host
rename to target/host.mk
index 7ca0bbe7..1f0c6ac0 100644
--- a/Makefile.host
+++ b/target/host.mk
@@ -12,14 +12,12 @@ CC := $(CROSS)gcc
 CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 OLVL ?= -O2
-CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
-CFLAGS += -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -g -fomit-frame-pointer -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections
+CFLAGS += -fomit-frame-pointer
 
 AR := $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
 
 LD := $(CROSS)gcc
-LDFLAGS += -Wl,--gc-sections
 LDFLAGS_PREFIX := -Wl,
 
 OBJCOPY := $(CROSS)objcopy
@@ -32,8 +30,8 @@ ifneq ($(NOSAN), 1)
   LDFLAGS += -fsanitize=address,undefined
 endif
 
+CXXFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
+
 # install unstripped binaries in rootfs
 # (cruicial for tests binaries with debug info for meaningful sanitizers info)
 ROOTFS_INSTALL_UNSTRIPPED := y
-
-CXXFLAGS += $(filter-out -Wstrict-prototypes, $(CFLAGS))
diff --git a/Makefile.ia32 b/target/ia32.mk
similarity index 75%
rename from Makefile.ia32
rename to target/ia32.mk
index 123be669..d3242989 100644
--- a/Makefile.ia32
+++ b/target/ia32.mk
@@ -12,19 +12,16 @@ CC := $(CROSS)gcc
 CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 OLVL ?= -O2
-CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
-CFLAGS += -g -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes\
-	-m32 -march=i586 -mtune=generic -mno-mmx -mno-sse -fno-pic -fno-pie\
-	-fomit-frame-pointer -fno-builtin-malloc\
-	-fdata-sections -ffunction-sections
+CFLAGS += -m32 -march=i586 -mtune=generic -mno-mmx -mno-sse -fno-pic -fno-pie\
+	-fomit-frame-pointer -fno-builtin-malloc
 
-CXXFLAGS += $(filter-out -Wstrict-prototypes, $(CFLAGS))
+CXXFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
 
 AR = $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
 
 LD = $(CROSS)ld
-LDFLAGS := --gc-sections
+LDFLAGS :=
 GCCLIB := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-libgcc-file-name)
 CRTBEGIN := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-file-name=crtbegin.o)
 CRTEND := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-file-name=crtend.o)
diff --git a/Makefile.riscv64 b/target/riscv64.mk
similarity index 78%
rename from Makefile.riscv64
rename to target/riscv64.mk
index 98f697db..7ed3c166 100644
--- a/Makefile.riscv64
+++ b/target/riscv64.mk
@@ -14,12 +14,9 @@ CC = $(CROSS)gcc
 CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 OLVL ?= -O2
-CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
-# FIXME: -ffunction-sections and -fdata-sections are missing
-CFLAGS += -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -g\
-	-fomit-frame-pointer -mcmodel=medany -fno-builtin -DTARGET_RISCV64
+CFLAGS += -fomit-frame-pointer -mcmodel=medany -fno-builtin
 
-CFLAGS += $(filter-out -Wstrict-prototypes, $(CFLAGS))
+CXXFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
 
 AR = $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
diff --git a/Makefile.sparcv8leon3 b/target/sparcv8leon3.mk
similarity index 82%
rename from Makefile.sparcv8leon3
rename to target/sparcv8leon3.mk
index 52dc45e5..249acc7a 100644
--- a/Makefile.sparcv8leon3
+++ b/target/sparcv8leon3.mk
@@ -14,17 +14,14 @@ CC := $(CROSS)gcc
 CXX := $(CROSS)g++
 
 OLVL ?= -O2
-CFLAGS += $(OLVL)
-CFLAGS += -g -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes \
-	-mcpu=leon3 -msoft-float \
-	-DNOMMU \
-	-fdata-sections -ffunction-sections
+CFLAGS += -mcpu=leon3 -msoft-float
+CPPFLAGS := -DNOMMU
 
 AR = $(CROSS)ar
 ARFLAGS = -r
 
 LD = $(CROSS)ld
-LDFLAGS := -z max-page-size=0x200 --gc-sections
+LDFLAGS := -z max-page-size=0x200
 
 VADDR_KERNEL_INIT=31000000
 
@@ -37,7 +34,7 @@ else
   STRIP = $(CROSS)strip --strip-unneeded -R .rela.text
 endif
 
-CXXFLAGS += $(filter-out -Wstrict-prototypes, $(CFLAGS))
+CXXFLAGS := $(CFLAGS)
 
 GCCLIB := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-libgcc-file-name)
 CRTBEGIN := $(shell $(CC) $(CFLAGS) -print-file-name=crtbegin.o)