diff --git a/lib/system/gc.nim b/lib/system/gc.nim
index 8cc9c63878..9039de7d6b 100644
--- a/lib/system/gc.nim
+++ b/lib/system/gc.nim
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ proc rawNewObj(typ: PNimType, size: int, gch: var GcHeap): pointer =
   collectCT(gch)
   # Use alignment from typ.base if available, otherwise use MemAlign
   let alignment = if typ.kind == tyRef and typ.base != nil and
-        typ.base.align > 16: typ.base.align else: 0
+        typ.base.align > MemAlign: typ.base.align else: 0
   var res = cast[PCell](rawAlloc(gch.region, size + sizeof(Cell), alignment))
   #gcAssert typ.kind in {tyString, tySequence} or size >= typ.base.size, "size too small"
   # Check that the user data (after the Cell header) is properly aligned
@@ -517,7 +517,7 @@ proc newObjRC1(typ: PNimType, size: int): pointer {.compilerRtl, noinline, raise
 
   # Use alignment from typ.base if available, otherwise use MemAlign
   let alignment = if typ.kind == tyRef and typ.base != nil and
-        typ.base.align > 16: typ.base.align else: 0
+        typ.base.align > MemAlign: typ.base.align else: 0
   var res = cast[PCell](rawAlloc(gch.region, size + sizeof(Cell), alignment))
   sysAssert(allocInv(gch.region), "newObjRC1 after rawAlloc")
   # Check that the user data (after the Cell header) is properly aligned