diff --git a/mesosphere/kernel_ldr/source/arch/arm64/start.s b/mesosphere/kernel_ldr/source/arch/arm64/start.s
index 18412f500..895c36237 100644
--- a/mesosphere/kernel_ldr/source/arch/arm64/start.s
+++ b/mesosphere/kernel_ldr/source/arch/arm64/start.s
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ _start:
     mov sp, x2
     br  x1
 
-
+.balign 8
 __external_references:
     .quad __bss_start__ - _start
     .quad __bss_end__   - _start