diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4f518ae4a61689be8f416b027aba8cd60e804488..3a0077911a8edaa79115609157b0a331855ec2f5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -273,6 +273,10 @@ ifdef CONFIG_driver_softi2c
 	COMMON_FLAGS += -DDRIVER_SOFTI2C
 endif
 
+ifdef CONFIG_meta_driver_hardware_i2c
+	COMMON_FLAGS += -DDRIVER_HARDWARE_I2C
+endif
+
 ifdef CONFIG_lib_inflate
 	CXX_TARGETS += src/lib/inflate.cc
 endif
diff --git a/include/driver/soft_i2c.h b/include/driver/soft_i2c.h
index 05fbce6cee87f1621bda3e68821fe03b97521fef..b581a382816c14a635bf787a25f68cebabc579c4 100644
--- a/include/driver/soft_i2c.h
+++ b/include/driver/soft_i2c.h
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ class SoftI2C {
 				unsigned char rx_len, unsigned char *rx_buf);
 };
 
+#ifndef DRIVER_HARDWARE_I2C
 extern SoftI2C i2c;
+#endif
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/app/i2cdetect/main.cc b/src/app/i2cdetect/main.cc
index fb6f54c8db2852ee3092cd4e7dd072711735ad22..95a34bbb10ce0e91ef48c8727d2f115ce52ddd34 100644
--- a/src/app/i2cdetect/main.cc
+++ b/src/app/i2cdetect/main.cc
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
 #include "arch.h"
 #include "driver/gpio.h"
 #include "driver/stdout.h"
-#if defined(MULTIPASS_ARCH_HAS_I2C) && !defined(DRIVER_SOFTI2C)
+#ifdef DRIVER_HARDWARE_I2C
 #include "driver/i2c.h"
-#else
+#endif
+#ifdef DRIVER_SOFTI2C
 #include "driver/soft_i2c.h"
 #endif
 
diff --git a/src/arch/arduino-nano/Kconfig b/src/arch/arduino-nano/Kconfig
index ab25a8f89ecf5a9a4afa3dc7a7300981849fa128..ce9a9873014dab48a2b4ce39288782aafa7d9161 100644
--- a/src/arch/arduino-nano/Kconfig
+++ b/src/arch/arduino-nano/Kconfig
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ select meta_driver_adc
 
 config arch_arduino_nano_driver_i2c
 bool "I2C"
-depends on !driver_softi2c
+select meta_driver_hardware_i2c
 select meta_driver_i2c
 
 config arch_arduino_nano_driver_neopixel
diff --git a/src/arch/blinkenrocket/Kconfig b/src/arch/blinkenrocket/Kconfig
index ead54f96220d7fd8741af6bde700b2f1edc7b663..c9b04a590bbc6bd786c79fee55f744a7816cf9d3 100644
--- a/src/arch/blinkenrocket/Kconfig
+++ b/src/arch/blinkenrocket/Kconfig
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: CC0-1.0
 config arch_blinkenrocket_driver_i2c
 bool "I2C"
-depends on !driver_softi2c
+select meta_driver_hardware_i2c
 select meta_driver_i2c
 
 config arch_blinkenrocket_driver_uptime
diff --git a/src/arch/msp430fr5969lp/Kconfig b/src/arch/msp430fr5969lp/Kconfig
index 70fb3e4958bf94537c7406149e53a37a62da23ca..80d74e4bb916fab030c32a0dc4505e4c44233a8b 100644
--- a/src/arch/msp430fr5969lp/Kconfig
+++ b/src/arch/msp430fr5969lp/Kconfig
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ select meta_driver_counter
 
 config arch_msp430fr5969lp_driver_i2c
 bool "I2C on eUSCI_B0"
-depends on !driver_softi2c
+select meta_driver_hardware_i2c
 select meta_driver_i2c
 
 ## broken
diff --git a/src/arch/msp430fr5994lp/Kconfig b/src/arch/msp430fr5994lp/Kconfig
index abbfcabe32278518dc0b03327a7394bc1174ff56..0c97499b89257cbfaf7880c14b30ecba216f334f 100644
--- a/src/arch/msp430fr5994lp/Kconfig
+++ b/src/arch/msp430fr5994lp/Kconfig
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ select meta_driver_counter
 
 config arch_msp430fr5994lp_driver_i2c
 bool "I2C on eUSCI_B1"
-depends on !driver_softi2c
+select meta_driver_hardware_i2c
 select meta_driver_i2c
 
 ## broken
diff --git a/src/driver/Kconfig b/src/driver/Kconfig
index dbf70e03d388ef77bb9046ddb09337f71adb96f5..0b1b98be04eb7dc511f478cca62b69a6ae582251 100644
--- a/src/driver/Kconfig
+++ b/src/driver/Kconfig
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ config meta_driver_adc
 bool
 config meta_driver_counter
 bool
+config meta_driver_hardware_i2c
+bool
 config meta_driver_i2c
 bool
 config meta_driver_neopixel
diff --git a/src/driver/soft_i2c.cc b/src/driver/soft_i2c.cc
index 975fa2eca4e23710a7473596559774570bfeaae2..8b87e9385c734bdda2d62b171abf5883bffade49 100644
--- a/src/driver/soft_i2c.cc
+++ b/src/driver/soft_i2c.cc
@@ -235,6 +235,8 @@ ON_TIMER_INTERRUPT_head
 ON_TIMER_INTERRUPT_tail
 #endif
 
+#ifndef DRIVER_HARDWARE_I2C
+
 #if SOFTI2C_PULLUP_EXTERNAL
 #ifdef MULTIPASS_ARCH_msp430fr5969lp
 SoftI2C i2c(GPIO::p1_6, GPIO::p1_7, GPIO::p1_4, GPIO::p1_5);
@@ -258,3 +260,5 @@ SoftI2C i2c(GPIO::p5_0, GPIO::p5_1);
 SoftI2C i2c(GPIO::px00, GPIO::px01);
 #endif /* MULTIPASS_ARCH_* */
 #endif /* !SOFTI2C_PULLUP_EXTERNAL */
+
+#endif /* !DRIVER_HARDWARE_I2C */