diff --git a/headers/private/kernel/vm/vm.h b/headers/private/kernel/vm/vm.h
index 9e729e4a8e..967def5f8e 100644
--- a/headers/private/kernel/vm/vm.h
+++ b/headers/private/kernel/vm/vm.h
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ status_t vm_init_post_modules(struct kernel_args *args);
 void vm_free_kernel_args(struct kernel_args *args);
 void vm_free_unused_boot_loader_range(addr_t start, addr_t end);
 addr_t vm_allocate_early(struct kernel_args *args, size_t virtualSize,
-			size_t physicalSize, uint32 attributes, bool blockAlign);
+			size_t physicalSize, uint32 attributes, addr_t alignment);
 
 void slab_init(struct kernel_args *args);
 void slab_init_post_area();
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/arch/generic/generic_vm_physical_page_mapper.cpp b/src/system/kernel/arch/generic/generic_vm_physical_page_mapper.cpp
index bc764d2e5a..9473a5523e 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/arch/generic/generic_vm_physical_page_mapper.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/arch/generic/generic_vm_physical_page_mapper.cpp
@@ -248,29 +248,24 @@ generic_vm_physical_page_mapper_init(kernel_args *args,
 	sIOSpaceChunkSize = ioSpaceChunkSize;
 
 	// reserve virtual space for the IO space
-	// We reserve (ioSpaceChunkSize - B_PAGE_SIZE) bytes more, so that we
-	// can guarantee to align the base address to ioSpaceChunkSize.
-	sIOSpaceBase = vm_allocate_early(args,
-		sIOSpaceSize + ioSpaceChunkSize - B_PAGE_SIZE, 0, 0, false);
+	sIOSpaceBase = vm_allocate_early(args, sIOSpaceSize, 0, 0,
+		ioSpaceChunkSize);
 	if (sIOSpaceBase == 0) {
 		panic("generic_vm_physical_page_mapper_init(): Failed to reserve IO "
 			"space in virtual address space!");
 		return B_ERROR;
 	}
 
-	// align the base address to chunk size
-	sIOSpaceBase = (sIOSpaceBase + ioSpaceChunkSize - 1) / ioSpaceChunkSize
-		* ioSpaceChunkSize;
 	*ioSpaceBase = sIOSpaceBase;
 
 	// allocate some space to hold physical page mapping info
 	paddr_desc = (paddr_chunk_desc *)vm_allocate_early(args,
 		sizeof(paddr_chunk_desc) * 1024, ~0L,
-		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, false);
+		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, 0);
 	num_virtual_chunks = sIOSpaceSize / sIOSpaceChunkSize;
 	virtual_pmappings = (paddr_chunk_desc **)vm_allocate_early(args,
 		sizeof(paddr_chunk_desc *) * num_virtual_chunks, ~0L,
-		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, false);
+		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, 0);
 
 	TRACE(("paddr_desc %p, virtual_pmappings %p"/*", iospace_pgtables %p"*/"\n",
 		paddr_desc, virtual_pmappings/*, iospace_pgtables*/));
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/arch/m68k/arch_vm_translation_map_impl.cpp b/src/system/kernel/arch/m68k/arch_vm_translation_map_impl.cpp
index 2c73b954f7..fc7e7d8ab4 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/arch/m68k/arch_vm_translation_map_impl.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/arch/m68k/arch_vm_translation_map_impl.cpp
@@ -1262,7 +1262,7 @@ m68k_vm_translation_map_init(kernel_args *args)
 
 	iospace_pgtables = (page_table_entry *)vm_allocate_early(args,
 		B_PAGE_SIZE * (IOSPACE_SIZE / (B_PAGE_SIZE * NUM_PAGEENT_PER_TBL * NUM_PAGETBL_PER_PAGE)), ~0L,
-		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, false);
+		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, 0);
 
 	TRACE(("iospace_pgtables %p\n", iospace_pgtables));
 
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/arch/x86/paging/32bit/X86PagingMethod32Bit.cpp b/src/system/kernel/arch/x86/paging/32bit/X86PagingMethod32Bit.cpp
index 50164002c8..13e843f89e 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/arch/x86/paging/32bit/X86PagingMethod32Bit.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/arch/x86/paging/32bit/X86PagingMethod32Bit.cpp
@@ -84,22 +84,19 @@ X86PagingMethod32Bit::PhysicalPageSlotPool::~PhysicalPageSlotPool()
 status_t
 X86PagingMethod32Bit::PhysicalPageSlotPool::InitInitial(kernel_args* args)
 {
-	// We reserve more, so that we can guarantee to align the base address
-	// to page table ranges.
-	addr_t virtualBase = vm_allocate_early(args,
-		1024 * B_PAGE_SIZE + kPageTableAlignment - B_PAGE_SIZE, 0, 0, false);
+	// allocate a virtual address range for the pages to be mapped into
+	addr_t virtualBase = vm_allocate_early(args, 1024 * B_PAGE_SIZE, 0, 0,
+		kPageTableAlignment);
 	if (virtualBase == 0) {
 		panic("LargeMemoryPhysicalPageMapper::Init(): Failed to reserve "
 			"physical page pool space in virtual address space!");
 		return B_ERROR;
 	}
-	virtualBase = (virtualBase + kPageTableAlignment - 1)
-		/ kPageTableAlignment * kPageTableAlignment;
 
 	// allocate memory for the page table and data
 	size_t areaSize = B_PAGE_SIZE + sizeof(PhysicalPageSlot[1024]);
 	page_table_entry* pageTable = (page_table_entry*)vm_allocate_early(args,
-		areaSize, ~0L, B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, false);
+		areaSize, ~0L, B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, 0);
 
 	// prepare the page table
 	_EarlyPreparePageTables(pageTable, virtualBase, 1024 * B_PAGE_SIZE);
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/slab/MemoryManager.cpp b/src/system/kernel/slab/MemoryManager.cpp
index 82287edc53..69048bede4 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/slab/MemoryManager.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/slab/MemoryManager.cpp
@@ -1212,7 +1212,8 @@ MemoryManager::_AllocateArea(uint32 flags, Area*& _area)
 	} else {
 		// no areas yet -- allocate raw memory
 		area = (Area*)vm_allocate_early(sKernelArgs, SLAB_AREA_SIZE,
-			SLAB_AREA_SIZE, B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, true);
+			SLAB_AREA_SIZE, B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA,
+			SLAB_AREA_SIZE);
 		if (area == NULL) {
 			mutex_lock(&sLock);
 			return B_NO_MEMORY;
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/vm/vm.cpp b/src/system/kernel/vm/vm.cpp
index 1a88313311..614394e243 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/vm/vm.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/vm/vm.cpp
@@ -3432,7 +3432,7 @@ reserve_boot_loader_ranges(kernel_args* args)
 
 
 static addr_t
-allocate_early_virtual(kernel_args* args, size_t size, bool blockAlign)
+allocate_early_virtual(kernel_args* args, size_t size, addr_t alignment)
 {
 	size = PAGE_ALIGN(size);
 
@@ -3443,8 +3443,8 @@ allocate_early_virtual(kernel_args* args, size_t size, bool blockAlign)
 		addr_t previousRangeEnd = args->virtual_allocated_range[i - 1].start
 			+ args->virtual_allocated_range[i - 1].size;
 
-		addr_t base = blockAlign
-			? ROUNDUP(previousRangeEnd, size) : previousRangeEnd;
+		addr_t base = alignment > 0
+			? ROUNDUP(previousRangeEnd, alignment) : previousRangeEnd;
 
 		if (base >= KERNEL_BASE && base < rangeStart
 				&& rangeStart - base >= size) {
@@ -3459,7 +3459,8 @@ allocate_early_virtual(kernel_args* args, size_t size, bool blockAlign)
 	int lastEntryIndex = args->num_virtual_allocated_ranges - 1;
 	addr_t lastRangeEnd = args->virtual_allocated_range[lastEntryIndex].start
 		+ args->virtual_allocated_range[lastEntryIndex].size;
-	addr_t base = blockAlign ? ROUNDUP(lastRangeEnd, size) : lastRangeEnd;
+	addr_t base = alignment > 0
+		? ROUNDUP(lastRangeEnd, alignment) : lastRangeEnd;
 	if (KERNEL_BASE + (KERNEL_SIZE - 1) - base >= size) {
 		args->virtual_allocated_range[lastEntryIndex].size
 			+= base + size - lastRangeEnd;
@@ -3470,8 +3471,8 @@ allocate_early_virtual(kernel_args* args, size_t size, bool blockAlign)
 	addr_t rangeStart = args->virtual_allocated_range[0].start;
 	if (rangeStart > KERNEL_BASE && rangeStart - KERNEL_BASE >= size) {
 		base = rangeStart - size;
-		if (blockAlign)
-			base = ROUNDDOWN(base, size);
+		if (alignment > 0)
+			base = ROUNDDOWN(base, alignment);
 
 		if (base >= KERNEL_BASE) {
 			args->virtual_allocated_range[0].start = base;
@@ -3532,13 +3533,13 @@ allocate_early_physical_page(kernel_args* args)
 */
 addr_t
 vm_allocate_early(kernel_args* args, size_t virtualSize, size_t physicalSize,
-	uint32 attributes, bool blockAlign)
+	uint32 attributes, addr_t alignment)
 {
 	if (physicalSize > virtualSize)
 		physicalSize = virtualSize;
 
 	// find the vaddr to allocate at
-	addr_t virtualBase = allocate_early_virtual(args, virtualSize, blockAlign);
+	addr_t virtualBase = allocate_early_virtual(args, virtualSize, alignment);
 	//dprintf("vm_allocate_early: vaddr 0x%lx\n", virtualAddress);
 
 	// map the pages
@@ -3587,7 +3588,7 @@ vm_init(kernel_args* args)
 #if	!USE_SLAB_ALLOCATOR_FOR_MALLOC
 	// map in the new heap and initialize it
 	addr_t heapBase = vm_allocate_early(args, heapSize, heapSize,
-		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, false);
+		B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, 0);
 	TRACE(("heap at 0x%lx\n", heapBase));
 	heap_init(heapBase, heapSize);
 #endif
diff --git a/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp b/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp
index 4d0fe17467..63a2e00ec6 100644
--- a/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp
+++ b/src/system/kernel/vm/vm_page.cpp
@@ -2849,7 +2849,7 @@ vm_page_init(kernel_args *args)
 
 	// map in the new free page table
 	sPages = (vm_page *)vm_allocate_early(args, sNumPages * sizeof(vm_page),
-		~0L, B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, false);
+		~0L, B_KERNEL_READ_AREA | B_KERNEL_WRITE_AREA, 0);
 
 	TRACE(("vm_init: putting free_page_table @ %p, # ents %ld (size 0x%x)\n",
 		sPages, sNumPages, (unsigned int)(sNumPages * sizeof(vm_page))));