diff --git a/include/uv-private/uv-win.h b/include/uv-private/uv-win.h
index 80f9faf28..132339abb 100644
--- a/include/uv-private/uv-win.h
+++ b/include/uv-private/uv-win.h
@@ -219,14 +219,11 @@ typedef union {
   } fallback_;
 } uv_rwlock_t;
 
-#define UV_ONCE_INIT { 0, NULL, NULL }
+#define UV_ONCE_INIT { 0, NULL }
 
 typedef struct uv_once_s {
   unsigned char ran;
-  /* The actual event handle must be aligned to sizeof(HANDLE), so in */
-  /* practice it might overlap padding a little. */
   HANDLE event;
-  HANDLE padding;
 } uv_once_t;
 
 /* Platform-specific definitions for uv_spawn support. */
diff --git a/src/win/thread.c b/src/win/thread.c
index aecfaf4f8..cb2ba4ec6 100644
--- a/src/win/thread.c
+++ b/src/win/thread.c
@@ -60,11 +60,6 @@ static NOINLINE void uv__once_inner(uv_once_t* guard,
     void (*callback)(void)) {
   DWORD result;
   HANDLE existing_event, created_event;
-  HANDLE* event_ptr;
-
-  /* Fetch and align event_ptr */
-  event_ptr = (HANDLE*) (((uintptr_t) &guard->event + (sizeof(HANDLE) - 1)) &
-    ~(sizeof(HANDLE) - 1));
 
   created_event = CreateEvent(NULL, 1, 0, NULL);
   if (created_event == 0) {
@@ -72,7 +67,7 @@ static NOINLINE void uv__once_inner(uv_once_t* guard,
     uv_fatal_error(GetLastError(), "CreateEvent");
   }
 
-  existing_event = InterlockedCompareExchangePointer(event_ptr,
+  existing_event = InterlockedCompareExchangePointer(&guard->event,
                                                      created_event,
                                                      NULL);