diff --git a/configure b/configure
index cb72ced129..fe00036dbd 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -2962,6 +2962,10 @@ target_nptl="no"
 interp_prefix1=`echo "$interp_prefix" | sed "s/%M/$target_arch2/g"`
 echo "CONFIG_QEMU_INTERP_PREFIX=\"$interp_prefix1\"" >> $config_target_mak
 gdb_xml_files=""
+target_short_alignment=2
+target_int_alignment=4
+target_long_alignment=4
+target_llong_alignment=8
 
 TARGET_ARCH="$target_arch2"
 TARGET_BASE_ARCH=""
@@ -2974,9 +2978,11 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
   x86_64)
     TARGET_BASE_ARCH=i386
     target_phys_bits=64
+    target_long_alignment=8
   ;;
   alpha)
     target_phys_bits=64
+    target_long_alignment=8
     target_nptl="yes"
   ;;
   arm|armeb)
@@ -2985,6 +2991,7 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
     target_nptl="yes"
     gdb_xml_files="arm-core.xml arm-vfp.xml arm-vfp3.xml arm-neon.xml"
     target_phys_bits=32
+    target_llong_alignment=4
   ;;
   cris)
     target_nptl="yes"
@@ -2994,6 +3001,9 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
     bflt="yes"
     gdb_xml_files="cf-core.xml cf-fp.xml"
     target_phys_bits=32
+    target_int_alignment=2
+    target_long_alignment=2
+    target_llong_alignment=2
   ;;
   microblaze)
     bflt="yes"
@@ -3017,6 +3027,7 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
     TARGET_BASE_ARCH=mips
     echo "TARGET_ABI_MIPSN64=y" >> $config_target_mak
     target_phys_bits=64
+    target_long_alignment=8
   ;;
   ppc)
     gdb_xml_files="power-core.xml power-fpu.xml power-altivec.xml power-spe.xml"
@@ -3035,6 +3046,7 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
     TARGET_ABI_DIR=ppc
     gdb_xml_files="power64-core.xml power-fpu.xml power-altivec.xml power-spe.xml"
     target_phys_bits=64
+    target_long_alignment=8
   ;;
   ppc64abi32)
     TARGET_ARCH=ppc64
@@ -3056,6 +3068,7 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
   sparc64)
     TARGET_BASE_ARCH=sparc
     target_phys_bits=64
+    target_long_alignment=8
   ;;
   sparc32plus)
     TARGET_ARCH=sparc64
@@ -3072,6 +3085,10 @@ case "$target_arch2" in
     exit 1
   ;;
 esac
+echo "TARGET_SHORT_ALIGNMENT=$target_short_alignment" >> $config_target_mak
+echo "TARGET_INT_ALIGNMENT=$target_int_alignment" >> $config_target_mak
+echo "TARGET_LONG_ALIGNMENT=$target_long_alignment" >> $config_target_mak
+echo "TARGET_LLONG_ALIGNMENT=$target_llong_alignment" >> $config_target_mak
 echo "TARGET_ARCH=$TARGET_ARCH" >> $config_target_mak
 target_arch_name="`echo $TARGET_ARCH | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]'`"
 echo "TARGET_$target_arch_name=y" >> $config_target_mak
diff --git a/cpu-defs.h b/cpu-defs.h
index db809ed465..2b59fa6fb0 100644
--- a/cpu-defs.h
+++ b/cpu-defs.h
@@ -37,16 +37,22 @@
 
 #define TARGET_LONG_SIZE (TARGET_LONG_BITS / 8)
 
+typedef int16_t target_short __attribute__ ((aligned(TARGET_SHORT_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef uint16_t target_ushort __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_SHORT_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef int32_t target_int __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_INT_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef uint32_t target_uint __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_INT_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef int64_t target_llong __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_LLONG_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef uint64_t target_ullong __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_LLONG_ALIGNMENT)));
 /* target_ulong is the type of a virtual address */
 #if TARGET_LONG_SIZE == 4
-typedef int32_t target_long;
-typedef uint32_t target_ulong;
+typedef int32_t target_long __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_LONG_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef uint32_t target_ulong __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_LONG_ALIGNMENT)));
 #define TARGET_FMT_lx "%08x"
 #define TARGET_FMT_ld "%d"
 #define TARGET_FMT_lu "%u"
 #elif TARGET_LONG_SIZE == 8
-typedef int64_t target_long;
-typedef uint64_t target_ulong;
+typedef int64_t target_long __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_LONG_ALIGNMENT)));
+typedef uint64_t target_ulong __attribute__((aligned(TARGET_LONG_ALIGNMENT)));
 #define TARGET_FMT_lx "%016" PRIx64
 #define TARGET_FMT_ld "%" PRId64
 #define TARGET_FMT_lu "%" PRIu64