diff --git a/minix/servers/vfs/exec.c b/minix/servers/vfs/exec.c
index 90e19c057..6d105e2de 100644
--- a/minix/servers/vfs/exec.c
+++ b/minix/servers/vfs/exec.c
@@ -740,7 +740,12 @@ static int map_header(struct vfs_exec_info *execi)
   int r;
   size_t cum_io;
   off_t pos, new_pos;
-  static char hdr[PAGE_SIZE]; /* Assume that header is not larger than a page */
+  /* Assume that header is not larger than a page. Align the buffer reasonably
+   * well, because libexec casts it to a structure directly and therefore
+   * expects it to be aligned appropriately. From here we can only guess the
+   * proper alignment, but 64 bits should work for all versions of ELF..
+   */
+  static char hdr[PAGE_SIZE] __aligned(8);
 
   pos = 0;	/* Read from the start of the file */
 
diff --git a/minix/servers/vm/main.c b/minix/servers/vm/main.c
index b6b305698..884fb43e1 100644
--- a/minix/servers/vm/main.c
+++ b/minix/servers/vm/main.c
@@ -333,7 +333,8 @@ static void exec_bootproc(struct vmproc *vmp, struct boot_image *ip)
 {
 	struct vm_exec_info vmexeci;
 	struct exec_info *execi = &vmexeci.execi;
-	char hdr[VM_PAGE_SIZE];
+	/* libexec need proper alignment for casting to structures */
+	char hdr[VM_PAGE_SIZE] __aligned(8);
 
 	size_t frame_size = 0;	/* Size of the new initial stack. */
 	int argc = 0;		/* Argument count. */