diff --git a/libbb/messages.c b/libbb/messages.c
index 0e43ab674..a64aa405e 100644
--- a/libbb/messages.c
+++ b/libbb/messages.c
@@ -65,7 +65,10 @@ const char bb_path_wtmp_file[] ALIGN1 =
 #error unknown path to wtmp file
 #endif
 
-char bb_common_bufsiz1[COMMON_BUFSIZE];
+/* We use it for "global" data via *(struct global*)&bb_common_bufsiz1.
+ * Since gcc insists on aligning struct global's members, it would be a pity
+ * (and an alignment fault on some CPUs) to mess it up. */
+char bb_common_bufsiz1[COMMON_BUFSIZE] __attribute__(( aligned(sizeof(long long)) ));
 
 struct globals;
 /* Make it reside in R/W memory: */