diff --git a/src/system/runtime_loader/heap.cpp b/src/system/runtime_loader/heap.cpp
index 61a815d701..bb6e8802d2 100644
--- a/src/system/runtime_loader/heap.cpp
+++ b/src/system/runtime_loader/heap.cpp
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ void *
 memalign(size_t alignment, size_t size)
 {
 	// pseudo alignment by just upping the size
-	size = (size + alignment - 1) & ~alignment;
+	size = (size + alignment - 1) & ~(alignment - 1);
 	return malloc(size);
 }