diff --git a/src/llvm_backend_const.cpp b/src/llvm_backend_const.cpp
index fffc9f94c..0a77ddc3d 100644
--- a/src/llvm_backend_const.cpp
+++ b/src/llvm_backend_const.cpp
@@ -117,33 +117,7 @@ gb_internal LLVMValueRef llvm_const_cast(lbModule *m, LLVMValueRef val, LLVMType
 		unsigned dst_n = LLVMCountStructElementTypes(dst);
 		if (src_n != dst_n) goto failure;
 
-		bool skip_cast = true;
-		for (unsigned i = 0; i < dst_n; i++) {
-			LLVMTypeKind dt = LLVMGetTypeKind(LLVMStructGetTypeAtIndex(dst, i));
-			LLVMTypeKind st = LLVMGetTypeKind(LLVMStructGetTypeAtIndex(src, i));
-			if (dt != st) {
-				skip_cast = false;
-			}
-			if (dt == LLVMIntegerTypeKind) {
-				continue;
-			}
-			if (dt != LLVMArrayTypeKind) {
-				skip_cast = false;
-				break;
-			}
-
-			LLVMValueRef field_val = llvm_const_extract_value(m, val, i);
-			if (field_val == nullptr) goto failure;
-
-			LLVMTypeRef dst_elem_ty = LLVMStructGetTypeAtIndex(dst, i);
-			LLVMTypeRef src_elem_ty = LLVMTypeOf(field_val);
-			if (lb_sizeof(dst_elem_ty) > lb_sizeof(src_elem_ty)) {
-				skip_cast = true;
-				continue;
-			}
-
-		}
-		if (skip_cast) {
+		if (LLVM_VERSION_MAJOR > 14) {
 			return val;
 		}
 
@@ -1075,7 +1049,7 @@ gb_internal lbValue lb_const_value(lbModule *m, Type *type, ExactValue value, Ty
 			values[value_count++] = llvm_const_pad_to_size(m, cv.value, block_type);
 		#else
 			values[value_count++] = cv.value;
-			{
+			if (block_size != type_size_of(variant_type)) {
 				LLVMTypeRef padding_type = lb_type_padding_filler(m, block_size - type_size_of(variant_type), 1);
 				values[value_count++] = LLVMConstNull(padding_type);
 			}
@@ -1095,6 +1069,7 @@ gb_internal lbValue lb_const_value(lbModule *m, Type *type, ExactValue value, Ty
 			}
 
 			res.value = LLVMConstStructInContext(m->ctx, values, value_count, true);
+			gb_printf_err("%s\n", LLVMPrintValueToString(res.value));
 
 			return res;
 		}
diff --git a/src/llvm_backend_general.cpp b/src/llvm_backend_general.cpp
index e91ce3fd7..bcc4e0ee2 100644
--- a/src/llvm_backend_general.cpp
+++ b/src/llvm_backend_general.cpp
@@ -1647,22 +1647,23 @@ gb_internal lbValue lb_emit_union_tag_ptr(lbProcedure *p, lbValue u) {
 
 	LLVMTypeRef uvt = llvm_addr_type(p->module, u);
 	unsigned element_count = LLVMCountStructElementTypes(uvt);
-	if (LLVM_VERSION_MAJOR == 14 || bt->Union.variants.count == 1) {
+	// if (LLVM_VERSION_MAJOR == 14 || bt->Union.variants.count == 1) {
 		GB_ASSERT_MSG(element_count >= 2, "element_count=%u (%s) != (%s)", element_count, type_to_string(ut), LLVMPrintTypeToString(uvt));
-	} else {
-		GB_ASSERT_MSG(element_count >= 3, "element_count=%u (%s) != (%s)", element_count, type_to_string(ut), LLVMPrintTypeToString(uvt));
-	}
+	// } else {
+		// GB_ASSERT_MSG(element_count >= 3, "element_count=%u (%s) != (%s)", element_count, type_to_string(ut), LLVMPrintTypeToString(uvt));
+	// }
 
 	LLVMValueRef ptr = u.value;
 	ptr = LLVMBuildPointerCast(p->builder, ptr, LLVMPointerType(uvt, 0), "");
 
 	lbValue tag_ptr = {};
-	if (LLVM_VERSION_MAJOR == 14 || bt->Union.variants.count == 1) {
+	// if (LLVM_VERSION_MAJOR == 14 || bt->Union.variants.count == 1) {
 		tag_ptr.value = LLVMBuildStructGEP2(p->builder, uvt, ptr, 1, "");
-	} else {
-		tag_ptr.value = LLVMBuildStructGEP2(p->builder, uvt, ptr, 2, "");
-	}
+	// } else {
+		// tag_ptr.value = LLVMBuildStructGEP2(p->builder, uvt, ptr, 2, "");
+	// }
 	tag_ptr.type = alloc_type_pointer(tag_type);
+	tag_ptr.value = LLVMBuildPointerCast(p->builder, tag_ptr.value, lb_type(p->module, tag_ptr.type), "");
 	return tag_ptr;
 }
 
@@ -2412,8 +2413,9 @@ gb_internal LLVMTypeRef lb_type_internal(lbModule *m, Type *type) {
 			i64 full_type_align = type_align_of(type);
 			GB_ASSERT(full_type_size % full_type_align == 0);
 
-			if (type->Struct.is_raw_union) {
+			bool requires_packing = type->Struct.is_packed;
 
+			if (type->Struct.is_raw_union) {
 				lbStructFieldRemapping field_remapping = {};
 				slice_init(&field_remapping, permanent_allocator(), 1);
 
@@ -2421,7 +2423,7 @@ gb_internal LLVMTypeRef lb_type_internal(lbModule *m, Type *type) {
 				fields[0] = lb_type_padding_filler(m, full_type_size, full_type_align);
 				field_remapping[0] = 0;
 
-				LLVMTypeRef struct_type = LLVMStructTypeInContext(ctx, fields, gb_count_of(fields), false);
+				LLVMTypeRef struct_type = LLVMStructTypeInContext(ctx, fields, gb_count_of(fields), requires_packing);
 				map_set(&m->struct_field_remapping, cast(void *)struct_type, field_remapping);
 				map_set(&m->struct_field_remapping, cast(void *)type, field_remapping);
 				return struct_type;
@@ -2441,7 +2443,6 @@ gb_internal LLVMTypeRef lb_type_internal(lbModule *m, Type *type) {
 			}
 
 			i64 prev_offset = 0;
-			bool requires_packing = type->Struct.is_packed;
 			for (i32 field_index : struct_fields_index_by_increasing_offset(temporary_allocator(), type)) {
 				Entity *field = type->Struct.fields[field_index];
 				i64 offset = type->Struct.offsets[field_index];
@@ -2529,12 +2530,6 @@ gb_internal LLVMTypeRef lb_type_internal(lbModule *m, Type *type) {
 
 				LLVMTypeRef tag_type = lb_type(m, union_tag_type(type));
 				array_add(&fields, block_type);
-				#if LLVM_VERSION_MAJOR > 14
-				{ // NOTE(bill): always add a zero-byte pad to make inline constant unions work
-					LLVMTypeRef padding_type = lb_type_padding_filler(m, 0, 1);
-					array_add(&fields, padding_type);
-				}
-				#endif
 				array_add(&fields, tag_type);
 				i64 used_size = lb_sizeof(block_type) + lb_sizeof(tag_type);
 				i64 padding = size - used_size;
@@ -2655,6 +2650,13 @@ gb_internal LLVMTypeRef lb_type(lbModule *m, Type *type) {
 	m->internal_type_level += 1;
 	llvm_type = lb_type_internal(m, type);
 	m->internal_type_level -= 1;
+
+	// {
+	// 	i64 tsz = type_size_of(type);
+	// 	i64 lsz = lb_sizeof(llvm_type);
+	// 	GB_ASSERT_MSG(tsz == lsz, "%s %lld vs %lld %s", type_to_string(type), cast(long long)tsz, cast(long long)lsz, LLVMPrintTypeToString(llvm_type));
+	// }
+
 	if (m->internal_type_level == 0) {
 		map_set(&m->types, type, llvm_type);
 	}