diff --git a/lib/std/os/windows.zig b/lib/std/os/windows.zig
index 93ec10e8be..d864f85b8d 100644
--- a/lib/std/os/windows.zig
+++ b/lib/std/os/windows.zig
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ pub fn ReadLink(dir: ?HANDLE, sub_path_w: []const u16, out_buffer: []u8) ReadLin
     }
     defer CloseHandle(result_handle);
 
-    var reparse_buf: [MAXIMUM_REPARSE_DATA_BUFFER_SIZE]u8 = undefined;
+    var reparse_buf: [MAXIMUM_REPARSE_DATA_BUFFER_SIZE]u8 align(@alignOf(REPARSE_DATA_BUFFER)) = undefined;
     _ = DeviceIoControl(result_handle, FSCTL_GET_REPARSE_POINT, null, reparse_buf[0..]) catch |err| switch (err) {
         error.AccessDenied => unreachable,
         else => |e| return e,