diff --git a/core/lib/settings.c b/core/lib/settings.c
index 88101fb9d..b085f7219 100644
--- a/core/lib/settings.c
+++ b/core/lib/settings.c
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@
  *
  */
 
+#ifdef SETTINGS_CONF_SKIP_CONVENIENCE_FUNCS
+#undef SETTINGS_CONF_SKIP_CONVENIENCE_FUNCS
+#endif
+
+#define SETTINGS_CONF_SKIP_CONVENIENCE_FUNCS 1
+
 #include "contiki.h"
 #include "settings.h"
 #include "dev/eeprom.h"
diff --git a/core/lib/settings.h b/core/lib/settings.h
index 7dc1ce4f5..d2ac05e1d 100644
--- a/core/lib/settings.h
+++ b/core/lib/settings.h
@@ -228,6 +228,12 @@ extern settings_status_t settings_iter_delete(settings_iter_t item);
 /*****************************************************************************/
 // MARK: - inline convenience functions
 
+/* Unfortunately, some platforms don't properly drop unreferenced functions,
+ * so on these broken platforms we can save a significant amount
+ * of space by skipping the definition of the convenience functions.
+ */
+#if !SETTINGS_CONF_SKIP_CONVENIENCE_FUNCS
+
 static CC_INLINE const char *
 settings_get_cstr(settings_key_t key, uint8_t index, char *c_str,
                   settings_length_t c_str_size)
@@ -357,4 +363,6 @@ settings_set_uint64(settings_key_t key, uint64_t value)
 }
 #endif /* __int64_t_defined */
 
+#endif /* !SETTINGS_CONF_SKIP_CONVENIENCE_FUNCS */
+
 #endif /* !defined(__CONTIKI_SETTINGS_H__) */