diff --git a/src/basic/cgroup-util.c b/src/basic/cgroup-util.c
index 0184cbffbe..0dc13bc958 100644
--- a/src/basic/cgroup-util.c
+++ b/src/basic/cgroup-util.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 typedef union {
         struct file_handle file_handle;
         uint8_t space[offsetof(struct file_handle, f_handle) + sizeof(uint64_t)];
-} cg_file_handle;
+} _alignas_(uint64_t) cg_file_handle;
 
 #define CG_FILE_HANDLE_INIT                                     \
         (cg_file_handle) {                                      \