diff --git a/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/main.c b/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/main.c
index 7493c68a1a52..84fd2da0b562 100644
--- a/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/main.c
+++ b/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/main.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /*
  * Copyright (C) 2017 HAW-Hamburg
+ *               2018 Josua Arndt
  *
  * 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
@@ -14,6 +15,7 @@
  * @brief       xtimer_usleep_short test application
  *
  * @author      Michel Rottleuthner <michel.rottleuthner@haw-hamburg.de>
+ * @author      Josua Arndt <jarndt@ias.rwth-aachen.de>
  * @}
  */
 #include <stdio.h>
@@ -22,18 +24,56 @@
 #define TEST_USLEEP_MIN (0)
 #define TEST_USLEEP_MAX (500)
 
+#ifdef BOARD_NATIVE
+/* native can sometime take more time to respond as it is not real time */
+#define TEST_XTIMER_USLEEP_SHORT_SLEEP_MARGIN_US (1000)
+#else
+#define TEST_XTIMER_USLEEP_SHORT_SLEEP_MARGIN_US (20)
+#endif /* BOARD_NATIVE */
+
 int main(void)
 {
     xtimer_sleep(3);
-    printf("This test will call xtimer_usleep for values from %d down to %d\n",
-            TEST_USLEEP_MAX, TEST_USLEEP_MIN);
+    printf("This test will call xtimer_usleep for values from %d us down to %d us.\n",
+           TEST_USLEEP_MAX, TEST_USLEEP_MIN);
+
+    printf("Expected delay margin is %d us.\n",
+           TEST_XTIMER_USLEEP_SHORT_SLEEP_MARGIN_US);
+
+    uint32_t test_time = 0, sleeping_time = 0, margin_fault = 0;
 
     for (int i = TEST_USLEEP_MAX; i >= TEST_USLEEP_MIN; i--) {
-        printf("going to sleep %d usecs...\n", i);
+
+        uint32_t start = xtimer_now_usec();
         xtimer_usleep(i);
+        uint32_t slept = xtimer_now_usec() - start;
+
+        if (slept < (unsigned int)i || 
+            slept > (unsigned int)i + TEST_XTIMER_USLEEP_SHORT_SLEEP_MARGIN_US) {
+            printf("ERROR: Slept for %" PRIu32 " us not in range [%d, %d] us.\n",
+                   slept, i, i + TEST_XTIMER_USLEEP_SHORT_SLEEP_MARGIN_US);
+            ++margin_fault;
+        }
+        else {
+            printf("OK: Slept for %" PRIu32 " us not in range [%d, %d] us.\n",
+                   slept, i, i + TEST_XTIMER_USLEEP_SHORT_SLEEP_MARGIN_US);
+        }
+
+        sleeping_time += slept;
+        test_time += i;
     }
 
-    puts("[SUCCESS]");
+    printf("Slept for %" PRIu32 " us expected %" PRIu32 " us.\n",
+           sleeping_time, test_time);
 
-    return 0;
+    if (margin_fault != 0) {
+        printf("Sleep delay margin was not kept for %" PRIu32 " times.\n",
+                margin_fault);
+        puts("[FAILED]");
+        return 1;
+    }
+    else {
+        puts("[SUCCESS]");
+        return 0;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/tests/01-run.py b/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/tests/01-run.py
index d242289512f1..e98375d6fd99 100755
--- a/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/tests/01-run.py
+++ b/tests/xtimer_usleep_short/tests/01-run.py
@@ -12,21 +12,30 @@
 
 
 def testfunc(child):
-    child.expect(u"This test will call xtimer_usleep for values from \\d+ down to \\d+\r\n")
+    child.expect("This test will call xtimer_usleep for values from (\d+) us down to (\d+) us.")
+    sleep_max = int(child.match.group(1))
+    sleep_min = int(child.match.group(2))
+    delay = sleep_max - sleep_min
 
-    i = 500
+    child.expect("Expected delay margin is (\d+) us.")
+    sleep_margin = int(child.match.group(1))
 
-    while (i >= 0):
+    for delay in range(sleep_max, sleep_min, -1):
         try:
-            child.expect(u"going to sleep \\d+ usecs...\r\n", timeout=3)
+            child.expect("\w+: Slept for \d+ us not in range \[\d+, \d+\] us.",
+                         timeout=20)
+
         except pexpect.TIMEOUT:
-            print("xtimer stuck when trying to sleep %d usecs" % (i+1))
+            print("xtimer stuck when trying to sleep %d us or failed.".format(delay))
             print("[FAILED]")
-            break
-        i = i - 1
-
-    child.expect(u"[SUCCESS]", timeout=3)
-
+            exit(1)
+
+    child.expect("Slept for \d+ us expected \d+ us.")
+    child.expect("((Sleep delay margin was not kept for \d+ times.)|(\[SUCCESS\]))")
+    msg = child.match.group(1)
+    if msg != "[SUCCESS]" :
+        child.expect("[FAILED]")
+        exit(1)
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     sys.path.append(os.path.join(os.environ['RIOTBASE'], 'dist/tools/testrunner'))