diff --git a/cmake/dts.cmake b/cmake/dts.cmake
index 12a522e69de..cb757b943ca 100644
--- a/cmake/dts.cmake
+++ b/cmake/dts.cmake
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 set(GENERATED_DTS_BOARD_H    ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/include/generated/generated_dts_board.h)
 set(GENERATED_DTS_BOARD_CONF ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/include/generated/generated_dts_board.conf)
 set_ifndef(DTS_SOURCE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/boards/${ARCH}/${BOARD_FAMILY}/${BOARD_FAMILY}.dts)
+set_ifndef(DTS_COMMON_OVERLAYS ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/dts/common/common.dts)
 
 message(STATUS "Generating zephyr/include/generated/generated_dts_board.h")
 
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@ if(CONFIG_HAS_DTS)
     string(REPLACE " " ";" DTC_OVERLAY_FILE_AS_LIST ${DTC_OVERLAY_FILE})
   endif()
 
+  # Prepend common overlays
+  set(DTC_OVERLAY_FILE_AS_LIST ${DTS_COMMON_OVERLAYS} ${DTC_OVERLAY_FILE_AS_LIST})
+
   set(
     dts_files
     ${DTS_SOURCE}
diff --git a/doc/application/application.rst b/doc/application/application.rst
index 0ce40243621..dfa802298b5 100644
--- a/doc/application/application.rst
+++ b/doc/application/application.rst
@@ -907,6 +907,8 @@ following available sources, in order:
    :makevar:`DTC_OVERLAY_FILE` variable, either as set explicitly by the user
    or using one of the default values detailed below.
 
+#. Common overlays conditionally included by :file:`dts/common/common.dts`.
+
 #. The board's default DT configuration for the current :makevar:`BOARD`
    setting (i.e. the :file:`boards/ARCHITECTURE/BOARD/BOARD.dts`
    file in the Zephyr base directory).
@@ -928,6 +930,12 @@ checking the following until one is found, in order:
 If :makevar:`DTC_OVERLAY_FILE` specifies multiple files, they will be merged in
 order.
 
+The build system will automatically prepend :file:`dts/common/common.dts` to
+:makevar:`DTC_OVERLAY_FILE`, which conditionally includes certain overlays that
+are considered common to all applications. This includes the required overlay
+for MCUboot chain-loading (located in :file:`dts/comon/mcuboot.overlay`)
+whenever the :option:`CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT` is set using Kconfig.
+
 Application-Specific Code
 *************************
 
diff --git a/dts/common/common.dts b/dts/common/common.dts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6bc308c8b32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dts/common/common.dts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+/*
+ * Common Device Tree source, used for conditionally pulling in features and
+ * additions by the build system.
+ */
+
+#ifdef CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT
+#include "mcuboot.overlay"
+#endif
+
diff --git a/dts/common/mcuboot.overlay b/dts/common/mcuboot.overlay
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..795b0e26e97
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dts/common/mcuboot.overlay
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+/*
+ * Basic Device Tree overlay file for chain-loading by MCUboot.
+ * Automatically pulled in when CONFIG_BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT is set.
+ */
+
+/ {
+	chosen {
+		zephyr,code-partition = &slot0_partition;
+	};
+};
diff --git a/misc/Kconfig b/misc/Kconfig
index 2e67133e021..ba1a0901cb1 100644
--- a/misc/Kconfig
+++ b/misc/Kconfig
@@ -317,8 +317,16 @@ config BOOTLOADER_MCUBOOT
 	help
 	  This option signifies that the target uses MCUboot as a bootloader,
 	  or in other words that the image is to be chain-loaded by MCUboot.
-	  This sets several required options in order for the image generated
-	  to be bootable using the MCUboot open source bootloader.
+	  This sets several required build system and Device Tree options in
+	  order for the image generated to be bootable using the MCUboot open
+	  source bootloader. Currently this includes:
+
+	    * Setting TEXT_LOAD_OFFSET to a default value that allows space for
+	      the MCUboot image header
+	    * Activating SW_VECTOR_RELAY on Cortex-M0 targets with no built-in
+	      vector relocation mechanisms
+	    * Including dts/common/mcuboot.overlay when building the Device
+	      Tree in order to place and link the image at the slot0 offset
 
 config BOOTLOADER_KEXEC
 	bool