diff --git a/drivers/iio/light/max44000.c b/drivers/iio/light/max44000.c
index aa8ed1e3e89a..b8e721bced5b 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/light/max44000.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/light/max44000.c
@@ -75,6 +75,11 @@
 struct max44000_data {
 	struct mutex lock;
 	struct regmap *regmap;
+	/* Ensure naturally aligned timestamp */
+	struct {
+		u16 channels[2];
+		s64 ts __aligned(8);
+	} scan;
 };
 
 /* Default scale is set to the minimum of 0.03125 or 1 / (1 << 5) lux */
@@ -488,7 +493,6 @@ static irqreturn_t max44000_trigger_handler(int irq, void *p)
 	struct iio_poll_func *pf = p;
 	struct iio_dev *indio_dev = pf->indio_dev;
 	struct max44000_data *data = iio_priv(indio_dev);
-	u16 buf[8]; /* 2x u16 + padding + 8 bytes timestamp */
 	int index = 0;
 	unsigned int regval;
 	int ret;
@@ -498,17 +502,17 @@ static irqreturn_t max44000_trigger_handler(int irq, void *p)
 		ret = max44000_read_alsval(data);
 		if (ret < 0)
 			goto out_unlock;
-		buf[index++] = ret;
+		data->scan.channels[index++] = ret;
 	}
 	if (test_bit(MAX44000_SCAN_INDEX_PRX, indio_dev->active_scan_mask)) {
 		ret = regmap_read(data->regmap, MAX44000_REG_PRX_DATA, &regval);
 		if (ret < 0)
 			goto out_unlock;
-		buf[index] = regval;
+		data->scan.channels[index] = regval;
 	}
 	mutex_unlock(&data->lock);
 
-	iio_push_to_buffers_with_timestamp(indio_dev, buf,
+	iio_push_to_buffers_with_timestamp(indio_dev, &data->scan,
 					   iio_get_time_ns(indio_dev));
 	iio_trigger_notify_done(indio_dev->trig);
 	return IRQ_HANDLED;