diff --git a/boards/xtensa/esp32/common/Kconfig b/boards/xtensa/esp32/common/Kconfig
index 88ae2f03c65..4a93fca4a28 100644
--- a/boards/xtensa/esp32/common/Kconfig
+++ b/boards/xtensa/esp32/common/Kconfig
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ config ESP32_MERGE_BINS
 config ESP32_QEMU_IMAGE
 	bool "ESP32 binary image for QEMU"
 	default n
+	select ESP32_MERGE_BINS
 	---help---
 		Create a binary flash image used for QEMU.
 
diff --git a/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-devkitc/src/Make.defs b/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-devkitc/src/Make.defs
index 658aa43f5ba..9da0238315f 100644
--- a/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-devkitc/src/Make.defs
+++ b/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-devkitc/src/Make.defs
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ context:: $(SCRIPTOUT)
 
 distclean::
 	$(call DELFILE, $(SCRIPTOUT))
-	$(call DELFILE, $(TOPDIR)/esp32_qemu_img.bin)
 
 DEPPATH += --dep-path board
 VPATH += :board
diff --git a/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-ethernet-kit/src/Make.defs b/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-ethernet-kit/src/Make.defs
index 112b8431587..1a8fe0c5425 100644
--- a/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-ethernet-kit/src/Make.defs
+++ b/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-ethernet-kit/src/Make.defs
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ context:: $(SCRIPTOUT)
 
 distclean::
 	$(call DELFILE, $(SCRIPTOUT))
-	$(call DELFILE, $(TOPDIR)/esp32_qemu_img.bin)
 
 DEPPATH += --dep-path board
 VPATH += :board
diff --git a/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-wrover-kit/src/Make.defs b/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-wrover-kit/src/Make.defs
index 2c5d68946b0..d40703e83a7 100644
--- a/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-wrover-kit/src/Make.defs
+++ b/boards/xtensa/esp32/esp32-wrover-kit/src/Make.defs
@@ -64,7 +64,6 @@ context:: $(SCRIPTOUT)
 
 distclean::
 	$(call DELFILE, $(SCRIPTOUT))
-	$(call DELFILE, $(TOPDIR)/esp32_qemu_img.bin)
 
 DEPPATH += --dep-path board
 VPATH += :board
diff --git a/boards/xtensa/esp32/ttgo_lora_esp32/src/Make.defs b/boards/xtensa/esp32/ttgo_lora_esp32/src/Make.defs
index ee2742db50d..8f92d4cb990 100644
--- a/boards/xtensa/esp32/ttgo_lora_esp32/src/Make.defs
+++ b/boards/xtensa/esp32/ttgo_lora_esp32/src/Make.defs
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ context:: $(SCRIPTOUT)
 
 distclean::
 	$(call DELFILE, $(SCRIPTOUT))
-	$(call DELFILE, $(TOPDIR)/esp32_qemu_img.bin)
 
 DEPPATH += --dep-path board
 VPATH += :board
diff --git a/tools/esp32/Config.mk b/tools/esp32/Config.mk
index d8c4cf5cff7..fe242b46596 100644
--- a/tools/esp32/Config.mk
+++ b/tools/esp32/Config.mk
@@ -98,15 +98,8 @@ endif
 
 ESPTOOL_BINS += $(FLASH_APP)
 
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_ESP32_QEMU_IMAGE),y)
-	MK_QEMU_IMG=$(TOPDIR)/tools/esp32/mk_qemu_img.sh -b $(BOOTLOADER) -p $(PARTITION_TABLE)
-else
-	MK_QEMU_IMG=
-endif
-
 # MERGEBIN -- Merge raw binary files into a single file
 
-ifeq ($(CONFIG_ESP32_MERGE_BINS),y)
 define MERGEBIN
 	$(Q) if [ -z $(ESPTOOL_BINDIR) ]; then \
 		echo "MERGEBIN error: Missing argument for binary files directory."; \
@@ -117,15 +110,21 @@ define MERGEBIN
 		echo "Missing Flash memory size configuration for the ESP32 chip."; \
 		exit 1; \
 	fi
-	esptool.py -c esp32 merge_bin --output nuttx.merged.bin $(ESPTOOL_FLASH_OPTS) $(ESPTOOL_BINS)
+	$(eval ESPTOOL_MERGEBIN_OPTS :=                                              \
+		$(if $(CONFIG_ESP32_QEMU_IMAGE),                                         \
+			--fill-flash-size $(FLASH_SIZE) -fm $(FLASH_MODE) -ff $(FLASH_FREQ), \
+			$(ESPTOOL_FLASH_OPTS)                                                \
+		)                                                                        \
+	)
+	esptool.py -c esp32 merge_bin --output nuttx.merged.bin $(ESPTOOL_MERGEBIN_OPTS) $(ESPTOOL_BINS)
 	$(Q) echo nuttx.merged.bin >> nuttx.manifest
-	$(Q) echo "Generated: nuttx.merged.bin"
-endef
-else
-define MERGEBIN
 
+	$(Q) if [ "$(CONFIG_ESP32_QEMU_IMAGE)" = "y" ]; then \
+	    echo "Generated: nuttx.merged.bin (QEMU compatible)"; \
+	else \
+	    echo "Generated: nuttx.merged.bin"; \
+	fi
 endef
-endif
 
 # SIGNBIN -- Sign the binary image file
 
@@ -174,13 +173,12 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_ESP32_APP_FORMAT_MCUBOOT),y)
 define POSTBUILD
 	$(call SIGNBIN)
-	$(call MERGEBIN)
+	$(if $(CONFIG_ESP32_MERGE_BINS), $(call MERGEBIN), )
 endef
 else ifeq ($(CONFIG_ESP32_APP_FORMAT_LEGACY),y)
 define POSTBUILD
 	$(call ELF2IMAGE)
-	$(call MERGEBIN)
-	$(Q) $(MK_QEMU_IMG)
+	$(if $(CONFIG_ESP32_MERGE_BINS), $(call MERGEBIN), )
 endef
 endif
 
diff --git a/tools/esp32/mk_qemu_img.sh b/tools/esp32/mk_qemu_img.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 4dfaeae0112..00000000000
--- a/tools/esp32/mk_qemu_img.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,106 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-############################################################################
-# tools/esp32/mk_qemu_img.sh
-#
-# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
-# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
-# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.  The
-# ASF licenses this file to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
-# "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the
-# License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
-#
-#   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-#
-# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
-# WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.  See the
-# License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
-# under the License.
-#
-############################################################################
-
-SCRIPT_NAME=$(basename "${0}")
-
-BOOTLOADER_IMG=""
-PARTITION_IMG=""
-BOOTLOADER_OFFSET=0x1000
-PARTITION_OFFSET=0x8000
-NUTTX_OFFSET=0x10000
-NUTTX_IMG="nuttx.bin"
-FLASH_IMG="esp32_qemu_img.bin"
-
-usage() {
-  echo ""
-  echo "USAGE: ${SCRIPT_NAME} [-h] -b <bootloader> -p <partition_table> [-n <nuttx>] [-i <image_name>]"
-  echo ""
-  echo "Where:"
-  echo "  -b <bootloader> path to the bootloader image"
-  echo "  -p <partition_table> path to the partition table image"
-  echo "  -n <nuttx> path to the nuttx image (default nuttx.bin)"
-  echo "  -i <image_name> name of the resulting image (default esp32_qemu_img.bin)"
-  echo "  -h will show this help and terminate"
-  echo ""
-}
-
-imgappend() {
-  dd of="${1}" if="${2}" bs=1 seek="$(printf '%d' ${3})" conv=notrunc status=none
-}
-
-while [ -n "${1}" ]; do
-  case "${1}" in
-  -b )
-    shift
-    BOOTLOADER_IMG=${1}
-    ;;
-  -p )
-    shift
-    PARTITION_IMG=${1}
-    ;;
-  -n )
-    shift
-    NUTTX_IMG=${1}
-    ;;
-  -i )
-    shift
-    FLASH_IMG=${1}
-    ;;
-  -h )
-    usage
-    exit 0
-    ;;
-  *)
-    usage
-    exit 1
-    ;;
-  esac
-  shift
-done
-
-# Make sure we have the required argument(s)
-
-if [ -z "${BOOTLOADER_IMG}" ] || [ -z "${PARTITION_IMG}" ] ; then
-  echo ""
-  echo "${SCRIPT_NAME}: Missing bootloader and partition table binary images."
-  usage
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-printf "Generating %s...\n" "${FLASH_IMG}"
-printf "\tBootloader: %s\n" "${BOOTLOADER_IMG}"
-printf "\tPartition Table: %s\n" "${PARTITION_IMG}"
-
-dd if=/dev/zero bs=1024 count=4096 of="${FLASH_IMG}" status=none
-imgappend ${FLASH_IMG} ${BOOTLOADER_IMG} ${BOOTLOADER_OFFSET}
-imgappend ${FLASH_IMG} ${PARTITION_IMG} ${PARTITION_OFFSET}
-imgappend ${FLASH_IMG} ${NUTTX_IMG} ${NUTTX_OFFSET}
-
-if [ ${?} -ne 0 ]; then
-  printf "Failed to generate %s!\n" "${FLASH_IMG}"
-  exit 1
-fi
-
-printf "Generated %s successfully!\n" "${FLASH_IMG}"
-printf "You can run it with QEMU using:\n"
-printf "\tqemu-system-xtensa -nographic -machine esp32 -drive file=%s,if=mtd,format=raw\n" "${FLASH_IMG}"
-
-echo "${FLASH_IMG}" >> nuttx.manifest