diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a91368267..b2fed34d8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,15 +3,13 @@
 if (CONFIG_ARDUINO_API)
   string(REPLACE "__" "_" NORMALIZED_BOARD_TARGET "${NORMALIZED_BOARD_TARGET}")
 
-  if (IS_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/variants/${BOARD})
+  # Find variant directory and check for variant.h
+  # If board-specific variant.h exists, use it; otherwise fall back to default
+  if (EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/variants/${BOARD}/variant.h)
     set(variant_dir variants/${BOARD})
-  elseif (IS_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/variants/${NORMALIZED_BOARD_TARGET})
+  elseif (EXISTS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/variants/${NORMALIZED_BOARD_TARGET}/variant.h)
     set(variant_dir variants/${NORMALIZED_BOARD_TARGET})
   else()
-    message(WARNING
-      "Variant dir not found: variants/${BOARD}, variants/${NORMALIZED_BOARD_TARGET}\n"
-      "Your board is currently not supported. To use it you must create a DTS overlay."
-    )
     set(variant_dir variants/default)
   endif()
 
diff --git a/documentation/variants.md b/documentation/variants.md
index 5f985280d..24ffd151c 100644
--- a/documentation/variants.md
+++ b/documentation/variants.md
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ target board. To add board support:
 needs to be added it needs to be done in the `variants/` folder.
 Add a folder inside of the variants folder that matches the name of your board.
 2. Add an overlay file file that match the name of the board.
-3. Add a `variant.h` file.
+3. Add a `variant.h` file. (if required only)
 
 An example of this structure is shown below.
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ An example of this structure is shown below.
 variants/
 ├── arduino_nano_33_ble
 │   ├── arduino_nano_33_ble.overlay
-│   ├── variant.h
+│   ├── variant.h (optional)
 ```
 
 It is possible to apply the overlay outside of the `variants` folder. In that case `cmake` will show a warning and a default empty `variant.h` file will be used. The `zephyr,user` section will still need to be defined somewhere in your project, as described in the [Guide to Writing Overlays section](#guide-to-writing-overlays).
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ One example of a change that you may find useful is mapping additional pins. For
 example, the LEDs on the nRF52840 are not connected to any of the Arduino header
 pins. To define a built-in LED for this board, a 22nd pin definition was added.
 
-Your pinmap header file must be added to the variant.h file by adding three
+Your pinmap header file can optionally be added to the variant.h file by adding three
 lines using this format:
 
 ```c
diff --git a/variants/arduino_mkrzero/variant.h b/variants/arduino_mkrzero/variant.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 06cab2dae..000000000
--- a/variants/arduino_mkrzero/variant.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (c) 2022 Dhruva Gole
- *
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
- */
diff --git a/variants/nrf52840dk_nrf52840/variant.h b/variants/nrf52840dk_nrf52840/variant.h
deleted file mode 100644
index dd35da076..000000000
--- a/variants/nrf52840dk_nrf52840/variant.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (c) 2022 Mike Szczys
- *
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
- */
diff --git a/variants/pocketbeagle_2_am6254_a53/variant.h b/variants/pocketbeagle_2_am6254_a53/variant.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 31e6d5243..000000000
--- a/variants/pocketbeagle_2_am6254_a53/variant.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (c) 2025 Ayush Singh <ayush@beagleboard.org>
- *
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
- */
-
-#pragma once
diff --git a/variants/rpi_pico/variant.h b/variants/rpi_pico/variant.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 597ceefab..000000000
--- a/variants/rpi_pico/variant.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright (c) 2024 TOKITA Hiroshi
- *
- * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
- */