diff --git a/lobject.h b/lobject.h
index df31a1a0..53e67932 100644
--- a/lobject.h
+++ b/lobject.h
@@ -350,21 +350,13 @@ typedef struct TString {
 } TString;
 
 
-/*
-** Ensures that address after this type is always fully aligned.
-*/
-typedef union UTString {
-  LUAI_MAXALIGN;  /* ensures maximum alignment for strings */
-  TString tsv;
-} UTString;
-
 
 /*
 ** Get the actual string (array of bytes) from a 'TString'.
 ** (Access to 'extra' ensures that value is really a 'TString'.)
 */
 #define getstr(ts)  \
-  check_exp(sizeof((ts)->extra), cast_charp((ts)) + sizeof(UTString))
+  check_exp(sizeof((ts)->extra), cast_charp((ts)) + sizeof(TString))
 
 
 /* get the actual string (array of bytes) from a Lua value */
diff --git a/lstring.h b/lstring.h
index e7e4aedc..b2550218 100644
--- a/lstring.h
+++ b/lstring.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 #define MEMERRMSG       "not enough memory"
 
 
-#define sizelstring(l)  (sizeof(union UTString) + ((l) + 1) * sizeof(char))
+#define sizelstring(l)  (sizeof(TString) + ((l) + 1) * sizeof(char))
 
 #define luaS_newliteral(L, s)	(luaS_newlstr(L, "" s, \
                                  (sizeof(s)/sizeof(char))-1))