diff --git a/cmake/app/boilerplate.cmake b/cmake/app/boilerplate.cmake
index f52013c26785..4c9889a99b63 100644
--- a/cmake/app/boilerplate.cmake
+++ b/cmake/app/boilerplate.cmake
@@ -193,6 +193,14 @@ endif()
 assert(BOARD "BOARD not set")
 message(STATUS "Board: ${BOARD}")
 
+if(DEFINED ENV{ZEPHYR_BOARD_ALIASES})
+  include($ENV{ZEPHYR_BOARD_ALIASES})
+  if(${BOARD}_BOARD_ALIAS)
+    set(BOARD_ALIAS ${BOARD} CACHE STRING "Board alias, provided by user")
+    set(BOARD ${${BOARD}_BOARD_ALIAS})
+    message(STATUS "Aliased BOARD=${BOARD_ALIAS} changed to ${BOARD}")
+  endif()
+endif()
 include(${ZEPHYR_BASE}/boards/deprecated.cmake)
 if(${BOARD}_DEPRECATED)
   set(BOARD_DEPRECATED ${BOARD} CACHE STRING "Deprecated board name, provided by user")
diff --git a/doc/guides/beyond-GSG.rst b/doc/guides/beyond-GSG.rst
index ef5eefefc6c8..81f0f310a015 100644
--- a/doc/guides/beyond-GSG.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/beyond-GSG.rst
@@ -128,6 +128,26 @@ Export Zephyr CMake package
 The :ref:`cmake_pkg` can be exported to CMake's user package registry if it has
 not already been done as part of :ref:`getting_started`.
 
+Board Aliases
+*************
+
+Developers who work with multiple boards may find explicit board names
+cumbersome and want to use aliases for common targets.  This is
+supported by a CMake file with content like this:
+
+.. code-block:: cmake
+
+   # Variable foo_BOARD_ALIAS=bar replaces BOARD=foo with BOARD=bar and
+   # sets BOARD_ALIAS=foo in the CMake cache.
+   set(pca10028_BOARD_ALIAS nrf51dk_nrf51422)
+   set(pca10056_BOARD_ALIAS nrf52840dk_nrf52840)
+   set(k64f_BOARD_ALIAS frdm_k64f)
+   set(sltb004a_BOARD_ALIAS efr32mg_sltb004a)
+
+and specifying its location in :envvar:`ZEPHYR_BOARD_ALIASES`.  This
+enables use of aliases ``pca10028`` in contexts like
+``cmake -DBOARD=pca10028`` and ``west -b pca10028``.
+
 Build and Run an Application
 ****************************