diff --git a/heap.c b/heap.c
index 026fc45..c66cb42 100644
--- a/heap.c
+++ b/heap.c
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ static unsigned char HeapMemory[HEAP_SIZE];         /* all memory - stack and he
 static void *HeapBottom = &HeapMemory[HEAP_SIZE];   /* the bottom of the (downward-growing) heap */
 static void *StackFrame = &HeapMemory[0];           /* the current stack frame */
 void *HeapStackTop = &HeapMemory[0];                /* the top of the stack */
-void *HeapMemStart = &HeapMemory[0];
 #endif
 
 static struct AllocNode *FreeListBucket[FREELIST_BUCKETS];      /* we keep a pool of freelist buckets to reduce fragmentation */
@@ -39,11 +38,15 @@ void ShowBigList()
 void HeapInit()
 {
     int Count;
+    int AlignOffset = 0;
     
-    StackFrame = &HeapMemory[0];
-    HeapStackTop = &HeapMemory[0];
+    while (((unsigned int)&HeapMemory[AlignOffset] & (sizeof(ALIGN_TYPE)-1)) != 0)
+        AlignOffset++;
+        
+    StackFrame = &HeapMemory[AlignOffset];
+    HeapStackTop = &HeapMemory[AlignOffset];
     *(void **)StackFrame = NULL;
-    HeapBottom = &HeapMemory[HEAP_SIZE];
+    HeapBottom = &HeapMemory[HEAP_SIZE-sizeof(ALIGN_TYPE)+AlignOffset];
     FreeListBig = NULL;
     for (Count = 0; Count < FREELIST_BUCKETS; Count++)
         FreeListBucket[Count] = NULL;
diff --git a/picoc.h b/picoc.h
index aa6b564..f8f0ef6 100644
--- a/picoc.h
+++ b/picoc.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 #define min(x,y) (((x)<(y))?(x):(y))
 #endif
 
-#define MEM_ALIGN(x) (((x) + ARCH_ALIGN_WORDSIZE - 1) & ~(ARCH_ALIGN_WORDSIZE-1))
+#define MEM_ALIGN(x) (((x) + sizeof(ALIGN_TYPE) - 1) & ~(sizeof(ALIGN_TYPE)-1))
 
 #define GETS_BUF_MAX 256
 
@@ -260,7 +260,6 @@ enum ParseResult { ParseResultEOF, ParseResultError, ParseResultOk };
 
 /* globals */
 extern void *HeapStackTop;
-extern void *HeapMemStart;
 extern struct Table GlobalTable;
 extern struct StackFrame *TopStackFrame;
 extern struct ValueType UberType;
diff --git a/platform.h b/platform.h
index c34f91e..216b9cd 100644
--- a/platform.h
+++ b/platform.h
@@ -11,8 +11,11 @@
  */
 
 #define LARGE_INT_POWER_OF_TEN 1000000000   /* the largest power of ten which fits in an int on this architecture */
+#ifdef __hppa__
+#define ALIGN_TYPE double                   /* the data type to use for alignment */
+#else
 #define ALIGN_TYPE void *                   /* the data type to use for alignment */
-#define ARCH_ALIGN_WORDSIZE sizeof(ALIGN_TYPE)  /* memory alignment boundary on this architecture */
+#endif
 
 #define GLOBAL_TABLE_SIZE 97                /* global variable table */
 #define STRING_TABLE_SIZE 97                /* shared string table size */
@@ -50,7 +53,6 @@
 # include <math.h>
 # define PICOC_MATH_LIBRARY
 # define NEED_MATH_LIBRARY
-# undef BIG_ENDIAN
 #endif
 
 extern jmp_buf ExitBuf;