diff --git a/conf/Makefile.lpc21 b/conf/Makefile.lpc21
index d69e1fad31..d29c7f2157 100644
--- a/conf/Makefile.lpc21
+++ b/conf/Makefile.lpc21
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ OBJCOPY = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-objcopy
 OBJDUMP = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-objdump
 NM      = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-nm
 SIZE    = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-size
-OOCD    = $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR)/bin/openocd
 
 #
 # If we can't find the toolchain (in /opt/paparazzi/arm-multilib or ~/sat) then try picking up the compilers from the path
@@ -72,7 +71,15 @@ OBJCOPY = $(shell which $(GCC_PREFIX)-objcopy)
 OBJDUMP = $(shell which $(GCC_PREFIX)-objdump)
 NM      = $(shell which $(GCC_PREFIX)-nm)
 SIZE    = $(shell which $(GCC_PREFIX)-size)
-OOCD    = $(shell which openocd)
+endif
+
+#first try to find OpenOCD in the path
+OOCD = $(shell which openocd)
+#if OpenOCD could not be found in the path, try the toolchain dir
+ifeq ($(OOCD),)
+ifneq ($(TOOLCHAIN),)
+OOCD = $(shell if test -e $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR)/bin/openocd ; then echo $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR)/bin/openocd ; else echo "Warning: OpenOCD not found"; fi)
+endif
 endif
 
 # Define some other programs and commands.
@@ -182,7 +189,6 @@ LPC21IAP = $(PAPARAZZI_SRC)/sw/ground_segment/lpc21iap/lpc21iap
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Flash-Programming support using openocd
-OOCD = openocd
 OOCD_INTERFACE = arm-usb-ocd
 OOCD_TARGET    = csc
 
diff --git a/conf/Makefile.stm32 b/conf/Makefile.stm32
index 1be84b9e6a..284ac27cdb 100644
--- a/conf/Makefile.stm32
+++ b/conf/Makefile.stm32
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ DMP  = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-objdump
 NM   = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-nm
 SIZE = $(GCC_BIN_PREFIX)-size
 RM   = rm
-OOCD = $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR)/bin/openocd
 
 # If we can't find the toolchain then try picking up the compilers from the path
 else
@@ -63,10 +62,19 @@ CP   = $(shell which arm-none-eabi-objcopy)
 DMP  = $(shell which arm-none-eabi-objdump)
 NM   = $(shell which arm-none-eabi-nm)
 SIZE = $(shell which arm-none-eabi-size)
-OOCD = $(shell which openocd)
 GCC_LIB_DIR=$(shell dirname `which arm-none-eabi-gcc`)/../arm-none-eabi/lib
 endif
 
+#first try to find OpenOCD in the path
+OOCD = $(shell which openocd)
+#if OpenOCD could not be found in the path, try the toolchain dir
+ifeq ($(OOCD),)
+ifneq ($(TOOLCHAIN),)
+OOCD = $(shell if test -e $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR)/bin/openocd ; then echo $(TOOLCHAIN_DIR)/bin/openocd ; else echo "Warning: OpenOCD not found"; fi)
+endif
+endif
+
+
 LOADER=/home/poine/work/stm32/stm32loader-a3c51c26ad6c/stm32loader.py
 
 ifndef $(TARGET).OOCD_INTERFACE