diff --git a/include/common.h b/include/common.h
index f7663f3024..5441efdc99 100644
--- a/include/common.h
+++ b/include/common.h
@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@
 #define __packed __attribute__((packed))
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * Include board and core configs, since those hold the CONFIG_ constants for a
+ * given configuration.  This guarantees they get included everywhere, and
+ * fixes a fairly common bug where we gate out code with #ifndef
+ * CONFIG_SOMETHING and but forget to include both of these.
+ */
+#include "board.h"
+#include "config.h"
+
 /* List of common error codes that can be returned */
 enum ec_error_list {
 	/* Success - no error */