diff --git a/libafl/src/observers/map.rs b/libafl/src/observers/map.rs
index 488ee58a32..64a15b9a10 100644
--- a/libafl/src/observers/map.rs
+++ b/libafl/src/observers/map.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ use core::{
     hash::{BuildHasher, Hasher},
     iter::Flatten,
     marker::PhantomData,
-    slice::{from_raw_parts, Iter, IterMut},
+    mem::size_of,
+    slice::{self, Iter, IterMut},
 };
 
 use ahash::RandomState;
@@ -72,9 +73,9 @@ fn init_count_class_16() {
 fn hash_slice<T>(slice: &[T]) -> u64 {
     let mut hasher = RandomState::with_seeds(0, 0, 0, 0).build_hasher();
     let ptr = slice.as_ptr() as *const u8;
-    let map_size = slice.len() / core::mem::size_of::<T>();
+    let map_size = slice.len() / size_of::<T>();
     unsafe {
-        hasher.write(from_raw_parts(ptr, map_size));
+        hasher.write(slice::from_raw_parts(ptr, map_size));
     }
     hasher.finish()
 }
@@ -1234,7 +1235,23 @@ where
         exit_kind: &ExitKind,
     ) -> Result<(), Error> {
         let map = self.as_mut_slice();
-        let len = map.len();
+        let mut len = map.len();
+        let align_offset = map.as_ptr().align_offset(size_of::<u16>());
+
+        // if len == 1, the next branch will already do this lookup
+        if len > 1 && align_offset != 0 {
+            debug_assert_eq!(
+                align_offset, 1,
+                "Aligning u8 to u16 should always be offset of 1?"
+            );
+            unsafe {
+                *map.get_unchecked_mut(0) =
+                    *COUNT_CLASS_LOOKUP.get_unchecked(*map.get_unchecked(0) as usize);
+            }
+            len -= 1;
+        }
+
+        // Fix the last element
         if (len & 1) != 0 {
             unsafe {
                 *map.get_unchecked_mut(len - 1) =
@@ -1243,13 +1260,17 @@ where
         }
 
         let cnt = len / 2;
-        let map16 = unsafe { core::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(map.as_mut_ptr() as *mut u16, cnt) };
+
+        let map16 = unsafe {
+            slice::from_raw_parts_mut(map.as_mut_ptr().add(align_offset) as *mut u16, cnt)
+        };
         // 2022-07: Adding `enumerate` here increases execution speed/register allocation on x86_64.
         for (_i, item) in map16[0..cnt].iter_mut().enumerate() {
             unsafe {
                 *item = *COUNT_CLASS_LOOKUP_16.get_unchecked(*item as usize);
             }
         }
+
         self.base.post_exec(state, input, exit_kind)
     }
 }
@@ -1776,9 +1797,9 @@ where
         for map in &self.maps {
             let slice = map.as_slice();
             let ptr = slice.as_ptr() as *const u8;
-            let map_size = slice.len() / core::mem::size_of::<T>();
+            let map_size = slice.len() / size_of::<T>();
             unsafe {
-                hasher.write(from_raw_parts(ptr, map_size));
+                hasher.write(slice::from_raw_parts(ptr, map_size));
             }
         }
         hasher.finish()
diff --git a/libafl_bolts/src/staterestore.rs b/libafl_bolts/src/staterestore.rs
index 25e34ab08a..bbebe44dff 100644
--- a/libafl_bolts/src/staterestore.rs
+++ b/libafl_bolts/src/staterestore.rs
@@ -214,6 +214,11 @@ where
 
     fn content_mut(&mut self) -> &mut StateShMemContent {
         let ptr = self.shmem.as_slice().as_ptr();
+        debug_assert_eq!(
+            ptr.align_offset(size_of::<StateShMemContent>()),
+            0,
+            "Beginning of the page is not aligned at {ptr:?}!"
+        );
         #[allow(clippy::cast_ptr_alignment)] // Beginning of the page will always be aligned
         unsafe {
             &mut *(ptr as *mut StateShMemContent)