diff --git a/lfs.c b/lfs.c
index 7520f2ea..901d712e 100644
--- a/lfs.c
+++ b/lfs.c
@@ -404,16 +404,20 @@ struct lfs_diskoff {
 
 // operations on global state
 static inline void lfs_gstate_xor(lfs_gstate_t *a, const lfs_gstate_t *b) {
-    for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-        ((uint32_t*)a)[i] ^= ((const uint32_t*)b)[i];
-    }
+    a->tag ^= b->tag;
+    a->pair[0] ^= b->pair[0];
+    a->pair[1] ^= b->pair[1];
 }
 
 static inline bool lfs_gstate_iszero(const lfs_gstate_t *a) {
-    for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
-        if (((uint32_t*)a)[i] != 0) {
-            return false;
-        }
+    if (a->tag != 0) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (a->pair[0] != 0) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (a->pair[1] != 0) {
+        return false;
     }
     return true;
 }