diff --git a/net/socket.c b/net/socket.c
index f9264472377f..dbd1a6851edd 100644
--- a/net/socket.c
+++ b/net/socket.c
@@ -1700,7 +1700,9 @@ asmlinkage long sys_sendmsg(int fd, struct msghdr __user *msg, unsigned flags)
 	struct socket *sock;
 	char address[MAX_SOCK_ADDR];
 	struct iovec iovstack[UIO_FASTIOV], *iov = iovstack;
-	unsigned char ctl[sizeof(struct cmsghdr) + 20];	/* 20 is size of ipv6_pktinfo */
+	unsigned char ctl[sizeof(struct cmsghdr) + 20]
+			__attribute__ ((aligned (sizeof(__kernel_size_t))));
+			/* 20 is size of ipv6_pktinfo */
 	unsigned char *ctl_buf = ctl;
 	struct msghdr msg_sys;
 	int err, ctl_len, iov_size, total_len;