diff --git a/src/util-io.c b/src/util-io.c
index 8c7e7de..54ab74e 100644
--- a/src/util-io.c
+++ b/src/util-io.c
@@ -30,10 +30,7 @@ int
 xread_with_fds(int fd, void *buf, size_t count, int **fds)
 {
 	const size_t MAX_FDS = 32;
-	union {
-		struct cmsghdr header;
-		char control[CMSG_SPACE(MAX_FDS * sizeof(int))];
-	} ctrl;
+	char control[CMSG_SPACE(MAX_FDS * sizeof(int))];
 
 	struct iovec iov = {
 		.iov_base = buf,
@@ -45,8 +42,8 @@ xread_with_fds(int fd, void *buf, size_t count, int **fds)
 		.msg_namelen = 0,
 		.msg_iov = &iov,
 		.msg_iovlen = 1,
-		.msg_control = ctrl.control,
-		.msg_controllen = sizeof(ctrl.control),
+		.msg_control = control,
+		.msg_controllen = sizeof(control),
 	};
 
 	int received = xerrno(recvmsg(fd, &msg, 0));
@@ -88,12 +85,10 @@ xsend_with_fd(int fd, const void *buf, size_t len, int *fds)
 	if (nfds == 0)
 		return xsend(fd, buf, len);
 
-	union {
-		struct cmsghdr header;
-		char control[CMSG_SPACE(nfds * sizeof(int))];
-	} ctrl;
+	char control[CMSG_SPACE(nfds * sizeof(int))];
+	struct cmsghdr *header = (struct cmsghdr*)control;
 
-	memset(&ctrl, 0, sizeof(ctrl));
+	memset(control, 0, sizeof(control));
 
 	struct iovec iov = {
 		.iov_base = (void*)buf,
@@ -105,13 +100,13 @@ xsend_with_fd(int fd, const void *buf, size_t len, int *fds)
 		.msg_namelen = 0,
 		.msg_iov = &iov,
 		.msg_iovlen = 1,
-		.msg_control = ctrl.control,
-		.msg_controllen = sizeof(ctrl.control),
+		.msg_control = control,
+		.msg_controllen = sizeof(control),
 	};
 
-	ctrl.header.cmsg_len = CMSG_LEN(nfds * sizeof(int));
-	ctrl.header.cmsg_level = SOL_SOCKET;
-	ctrl.header.cmsg_type = SCM_RIGHTS;
+	header->cmsg_len = CMSG_LEN(nfds * sizeof(int));
+	header->cmsg_level = SOL_SOCKET;
+	header->cmsg_type = SCM_RIGHTS;
 	memcpy(CMSG_DATA(CMSG_FIRSTHDR(&msg)), fds, nfds * sizeof(int));
 
 	return xerrno(sendmsg(fd, &msg, MSG_NOSIGNAL));