diff --git a/drivers/iio/imu/st_lsm6dsx/st_lsm6dsx_buffer.c b/drivers/iio/imu/st_lsm6dsx/st_lsm6dsx_buffer.c
index 5b28a3ffcc3d..8b79ade8e7de 100644
--- a/drivers/iio/imu/st_lsm6dsx/st_lsm6dsx_buffer.c
+++ b/drivers/iio/imu/st_lsm6dsx/st_lsm6dsx_buffer.c
@@ -365,8 +365,6 @@ static inline int st_lsm6dsx_read_block(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw, u8 addr,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-#define ST_LSM6DSX_IIO_BUFF_SIZE	(ALIGN(ST_LSM6DSX_SAMPLE_SIZE, \
-					       sizeof(s64)) + sizeof(s64))
 /**
  * st_lsm6dsx_read_fifo() - hw FIFO read routine
  * @hw: Pointer to instance of struct st_lsm6dsx_hw.
@@ -537,16 +535,23 @@ int st_lsm6dsx_read_fifo(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw)
 }
 
 #define ST_LSM6DSX_INVALID_SAMPLE	0x7ffd
-static int
-st_lsm6dsx_push_tagged_data(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw, u8 tag,
-			    u8 *data, s64 ts)
+static bool st_lsm6dsx_check_data(u8 tag, __le16 *data)
+{
+	if ((tag == ST_LSM6DSX_GYRO_TAG || tag == ST_LSM6DSX_ACC_TAG) &&
+	    (s16)le16_to_cpup(data) >= ST_LSM6DSX_INVALID_SAMPLE)
+		return false;
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+static int st_lsm6dsx_push_tagged_data(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw, u8 tag,
+				       __le16 *data, s64 ts)
 {
-	s16 val = le16_to_cpu(*(__le16 *)data);
 	struct st_lsm6dsx_sensor *sensor;
 	struct iio_dev *iio_dev;
 
 	/* invalid sample during bootstrap phase */
-	if (val >= ST_LSM6DSX_INVALID_SAMPLE)
+	if (!st_lsm6dsx_check_data(tag, data))
 		return -EINVAL;
 
 	/*
@@ -609,7 +614,13 @@ int st_lsm6dsx_read_tagged_fifo(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw)
 	 * must be passed a buffer that is aligned to 8 bytes so
 	 * as to allow insertion of a naturally aligned timestamp.
 	 */
-	u8 iio_buff[ST_LSM6DSX_IIO_BUFF_SIZE] __aligned(8);
+	struct {
+		union {
+			__le16 data[3];
+			__le32 fifo_ts;
+		};
+		aligned_s64 timestamp;
+	} iio_buff = { };
 	u8 tag;
 	bool reset_ts = false;
 	int i, err, read_len;
@@ -648,7 +659,7 @@ int st_lsm6dsx_read_tagged_fifo(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw)
 
 		for (i = 0; i < pattern_len;
 		     i += ST_LSM6DSX_TAGGED_SAMPLE_SIZE) {
-			memcpy(iio_buff, &hw->buff[i + ST_LSM6DSX_TAG_SIZE],
+			memcpy(&iio_buff, &hw->buff[i + ST_LSM6DSX_TAG_SIZE],
 			       ST_LSM6DSX_SAMPLE_SIZE);
 
 			tag = hw->buff[i] >> 3;
@@ -659,7 +670,7 @@ int st_lsm6dsx_read_tagged_fifo(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw)
 				 * B0 = ts[7:0], B1 = ts[15:8], B2 = ts[23:16],
 				 * B3 = ts[31:24]
 				 */
-				ts = le32_to_cpu(*((__le32 *)iio_buff));
+				ts = le32_to_cpu(iio_buff.fifo_ts);
 				/*
 				 * check if hw timestamp engine is going to
 				 * reset (the sensor generates an interrupt
@@ -670,7 +681,8 @@ int st_lsm6dsx_read_tagged_fifo(struct st_lsm6dsx_hw *hw)
 					reset_ts = true;
 				ts *= hw->ts_gain;
 			} else {
-				st_lsm6dsx_push_tagged_data(hw, tag, iio_buff,
+				st_lsm6dsx_push_tagged_data(hw, tag,
+							    iio_buff.data,
 							    ts);
 			}
 		}