diff --git a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.c b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.c
index f8b287d086..3e5fe4496a 100644
--- a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.c
+++ b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.c
@@ -138,20 +138,22 @@ nm_ip4_addr_get_default_prefix(in_addr_t ip)
 gboolean
 nm_ip_addr_is_site_local(int addr_family, const void *address)
 {
-    in_addr_t addr4;
+    NMIPAddr a;
+
+    nm_ip_addr_set(addr_family, &a, address);
 
     switch (addr_family) {
     case AF_INET:
         /* RFC1918 private addresses
          * 10.0.0.0/8, 172.16.0.0/12, 192.168.0.0/16 */
-        addr4 = ntohl(*((const in_addr_t *) address));
-        return (addr4 & 0xff000000) == 0x0a000000 || (addr4 & 0xfff00000) == 0xac100000
-               || (addr4 & 0xffff0000) == 0xc0a80000;
+        return (a.addr4 & htonl(0xff000000)) == htonl(0x0a000000)
+               || (a.addr4 & htonl(0xfff00000)) == htonl(0xac100000)
+               || (a.addr4 & htonl(0xffff0000)) == htonl(0xc0a80000);
     case AF_INET6:
         /* IN6_IS_ADDR_SITELOCAL() is for deprecated fec0::/10 addresses (see rfc3879, 4.).
-         * Note that for unique local IPv6 addresses (ULA, fc00::/7) this returns false,
-         * which may or may not be a bug. */
-        return IN6_IS_ADDR_SITELOCAL(address);
+         * Note that for unique local IPv6 addresses (ULA, fc00::/7) this returns false.
+         * This may or may not be a bug of this function. */
+        return IN6_IS_ADDR_SITELOCAL(&a.addr6);
     default:
         g_return_val_if_reached(FALSE);
     }
@@ -169,25 +171,33 @@ nm_ip6_addr_is_ula(const struct in6_addr *address)
 gconstpointer
 nm_ip_addr_clear_host_address(int family, gpointer dst, gconstpointer src, guint32 plen)
 {
+    NMIPAddr a;
+    NMIPAddr a2;
+
     g_return_val_if_fail(dst, NULL);
 
+    if (!src) {
+        /* allow "self-assignment", by specifying %NULL as source. */
+        src = dst;
+    }
+
+    nm_ip_addr_set(family, &a, src);
+
     switch (family) {
     case AF_INET:
         g_return_val_if_fail(plen <= 32, NULL);
 
-        if (!src) {
-            /* allow "self-assignment", by specifying %NULL as source. */
-            src = dst;
-        }
-
-        *((guint32 *) dst) = nm_ip4_addr_clear_host_address(*((guint32 *) src), plen);
+        a2.addr4 = nm_ip4_addr_clear_host_address(a.addr4, plen);
         break;
     case AF_INET6:
-        nm_ip6_addr_clear_host_address(dst, src, plen);
+        nm_ip6_addr_clear_host_address(&a2.addr6, &a.addr6, plen);
         break;
     default:
         g_return_val_if_reached(NULL);
     }
+
+    nm_ip_addr_set(family, dst, &a2);
+
     return dst;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.h b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.h
index 6530f4222f..d9246d459b 100644
--- a/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.h
+++ b/src/libnm-glib-aux/nm-inet-utils.h
@@ -50,23 +50,6 @@ nm_ip_addr_equal(int addr_family, gconstpointer a, gconstpointer b)
     return nm_ip_addr_cmp(addr_family, a, b) == 0;
 }
 
-static inline gboolean
-nm_ip_addr_is_null(int addr_family, gconstpointer addr)
-{
-    nm_assert(addr);
-
-    if (NM_IS_IPv4(addr_family)) {
-        in_addr_t t;
-
-        /* also for in_addr_t type (AF_INET), we accept that the pointer might
-         * be unaligned. */
-        memcpy(&t, addr, sizeof(t));
-        return t == 0;
-    }
-
-    return IN6_IS_ADDR_UNSPECIFIED((const struct in6_addr *) addr);
-}
-
 static inline void
 nm_ip_addr_set(int addr_family, gpointer dst, gconstpointer src)
 {
@@ -84,6 +67,19 @@ nm_ip_addr_set(int addr_family, gpointer dst, gconstpointer src)
      * uninitalized bytes. Avoid that by using nm_ip_addr_init() instead. */
 }
 
+static inline gboolean
+nm_ip_addr_is_null(int addr_family, gconstpointer addr)
+{
+    NMIPAddr a;
+
+    nm_ip_addr_set(addr_family, &a, addr);
+
+    if (NM_IS_IPv4(addr_family))
+        return a.addr4 == 0;
+
+    return IN6_IS_ADDR_UNSPECIFIED(&a.addr6);
+}
+
 static inline NMIPAddr
 nm_ip_addr_init(int addr_family, gconstpointer src)
 {
@@ -201,15 +197,18 @@ nm_ip6_addr_same_prefix(const struct in6_addr *addr_a, const struct in6_addr *ad
 static inline int
 nm_ip_addr_same_prefix_cmp(int addr_family, gconstpointer addr_a, gconstpointer addr_b, guint8 plen)
 {
+    NMIPAddr a;
+    NMIPAddr b;
+
     NM_CMP_SELF(addr_a, addr_b);
 
-    if (NM_IS_IPv4(addr_family)) {
-        return nm_ip4_addr_same_prefix_cmp(*((const in_addr_t *) addr_a),
-                                           *((const in_addr_t *) addr_b),
-                                           plen);
-    }
+    nm_ip_addr_set(addr_family, &a, addr_a);
+    nm_ip_addr_set(addr_family, &b, addr_b);
 
-    return nm_ip6_addr_same_prefix_cmp(addr_a, addr_b, plen);
+    if (NM_IS_IPv4(addr_family))
+        return nm_ip4_addr_same_prefix_cmp(a.addr4, b.addr4, plen);
+
+    return nm_ip6_addr_same_prefix_cmp(&a.addr6, &b.addr6, plen);
 }
 
 static inline gboolean