diff --git a/ports/esp32/main.c b/ports/esp32/main.c
index ccec6c8cd..ea641e668 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/main.c
+++ b/ports/esp32/main.c
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 #include "esp_log.h"
 #include "esp_psram.h"
 
-#include "py/stackctrl.h"
+#include "py/cstack.h"
 #include "py/nlr.h"
 #include "py/compile.h"
 #include "py/runtime.h"
@@ -71,13 +71,6 @@
 // MicroPython runs as a task under FreeRTOS
 #define MP_TASK_PRIORITY        (ESP_TASK_PRIO_MIN + 1)
 
-// Set the margin for detecting stack overflow, depending on the CPU architecture.
-#if CONFIG_IDF_TARGET_ESP32C3
-#define MP_TASK_STACK_LIMIT_MARGIN (2048)
-#else
-#define MP_TASK_STACK_LIMIT_MARGIN (1024)
-#endif
-
 typedef struct _native_code_node_t {
     struct _native_code_node_t *next;
     uint32_t data[];
@@ -132,8 +125,7 @@ void mp_task(void *pvParameter) {
 
 soft_reset:
     // initialise the stack pointer for the main thread
-    mp_stack_set_top((void *)sp);
-    mp_stack_set_limit(MICROPY_TASK_STACK_SIZE - MP_TASK_STACK_LIMIT_MARGIN);
+    mp_cstack_init_with_top((void *)sp, MICROPY_TASK_STACK_SIZE);
     gc_init(mp_task_heap, mp_task_heap + MICROPY_GC_INITIAL_HEAP_SIZE);
     mp_init();
     mp_obj_list_append(mp_sys_path, MP_OBJ_NEW_QSTR(MP_QSTR__slash_lib));
diff --git a/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h b/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
index 3349e56e4..40b3f11b4 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
+++ b/ports/esp32/mpconfigport.h
@@ -62,6 +62,11 @@
 // Python internal features
 #define MICROPY_READER_VFS                  (1)
 #define MICROPY_ENABLE_GC                   (1)
+#if CONFIG_IDF_TARGET_ARCH_RISCV                   // RISC-V SoCs use more stack than Xtensa
+#define MICROPY_STACK_CHECK_MARGIN          (2048) // This may be unnecessarily conservative
+#else
+#define MICROPY_STACK_CHECK_MARGIN          (1024)
+#endif
 #define MICROPY_ENABLE_EMERGENCY_EXCEPTION_BUF (1)
 #define MICROPY_LONGINT_IMPL                (MICROPY_LONGINT_IMPL_MPZ)
 #define MICROPY_ERROR_REPORTING             (MICROPY_ERROR_REPORTING_NORMAL)
diff --git a/ports/esp32/mpthreadport.c b/ports/esp32/mpthreadport.c
index 34fef9f7b..eac1e5ea3 100644
--- a/ports/esp32/mpthreadport.c
+++ b/ports/esp32/mpthreadport.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 #if MICROPY_PY_THREAD
 
 #define MP_THREAD_MIN_STACK_SIZE                        (4 * 1024)
-#define MP_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK_SIZE                    (MP_THREAD_MIN_STACK_SIZE + 1024)
+#define MP_THREAD_DEFAULT_STACK_SIZE                    (MP_THREAD_MIN_STACK_SIZE + MICROPY_STACK_CHECK_MARGIN)
 #define MP_THREAD_PRIORITY                              (ESP_TASK_PRIO_MIN + 1)
 
 #if ESP_IDF_VERSION >= ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL(5, 2, 0) && !CONFIG_FREERTOS_ENABLE_STATIC_TASK_CLEAN_UP
@@ -160,9 +160,6 @@ mp_uint_t mp_thread_create_ex(void *(*entry)(void *), void *arg, size_t *stack_s
     th->next = thread;
     thread = th;
 
-    // adjust the stack_size to provide room to recover from hitting the limit
-    *stack_size -= 1024;
-
     mp_thread_mutex_unlock(&thread_mutex);
 
     return (mp_uint_t)th->id;