diff --git a/include/kernel.h b/include/kernel.h
index 1712442374c..ab109788c9a 100644
--- a/include/kernel.h
+++ b/include/kernel.h
@@ -484,9 +484,17 @@ struct k_timer {
 	_DEBUG_TRACING_KERNEL_OBJECTS_NEXT_PTR(k_timer);
 };
 
-#define K_TIMER_INITIALIZER(obj) \
+#define K_TIMER_INITIALIZER(obj, expiry, stop) \
 	{ \
+	.timeout.delta_ticks_from_prev = -1, \
+	.timeout.wait_q = NULL, \
+	.timeout.thread = NULL, \
+	.timeout.func = _timer_expiration_handler, \
 	.wait_q = SYS_DLIST_STATIC_INIT(&obj.wait_q), \
+	.expiry_fn = expiry, \
+	.stop_fn = stop, \
+	.status = 0, \
+	._legacy_data = NULL, \
 	_DEBUG_TRACING_KERNEL_OBJECTS_INIT \
 	}
 
@@ -499,11 +507,13 @@ struct k_timer {
  *    extern struct k_timer @a name;
  *
  * @param name Name of the timer variable.
+ * @param expiry_fn Function to invoke each time timer expires.
+ * @param stop_fn   Function to invoke if timer is stopped while running.
  */
-#define K_TIMER_DEFINE(name) \
+#define K_TIMER_DEFINE(name, expiry_fn, stop_fn) \
 	struct k_timer name \
 		__in_section(_k_timer, static, name) = \
-		K_TIMER_INITIALIZER(name)
+		K_TIMER_INITIALIZER(name, expiry_fn, stop_fn)
 
 /**
  * @brief Initialize a timer.
@@ -2368,6 +2378,7 @@ extern void k_free(void *ptr);
 
 extern int _is_thread_essential(void);
 extern void _init_static_threads(void);
+extern void _timer_expiration_handler(struct _timeout *t);
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/kernel/unified/timer.c b/kernel/unified/timer.c
index 92c75b131c4..736ae779a58 100644
--- a/kernel/unified/timer.c
+++ b/kernel/unified/timer.c
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ SYS_INIT(init_timer_module, PRIMARY, CONFIG_KERNEL_INIT_PRIORITY_OBJECTS);
  *
  * @return N/A
  */
-static void timer_expiration_handler(struct _timeout *t)
+void _timer_expiration_handler(struct _timeout *t)
 {
 	int key = irq_lock();
 	struct k_timer *timer = CONTAINER_OF(t, struct k_timer, timeout);
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ void k_timer_init(struct k_timer *timer,
 	timer->status = 0;
 
 	sys_dlist_init(&timer->wait_q);
-	_init_timeout(&timer->timeout, timer_expiration_handler);
+	_init_timeout(&timer->timeout, _timer_expiration_handler);
 	SYS_TRACING_OBJ_INIT(k_timer, timer);
 
 	timer->_legacy_data = NULL;