diff --git a/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_component.c b/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_component.c
index 0958f88ca5..45a7191293 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_component.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_component.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2007      Los Alamos National Security, LLC.  All rights
  *                         reserved. 
  * Copyright (c) 2006-2008 University of Houston.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2010      Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  * 
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "opal/threads/condition.h"
 #include "opal/threads/mutex.h"
 #include "opal/util/arch.h"
+#include "opal/align.h"
 
 #include "ompi/info/info.h"
 #include "ompi/communicator/communicator.h"
@@ -919,6 +921,10 @@ component_fragment_cb(struct mca_btl_base_module_t *btl,
         }
 
         if ((base_header->hdr_flags & OMPI_OSC_RDMA_HDR_FLAG_MULTI) != 0) {
+
+            /* The next header starts at the next aligned address in the
+             * buffer.  Therefore, bump pointer forward if necessary. */
+            payload += OPAL_ALIGN_PAD_AMOUNT(payload, sizeof(void*));
             base_header = (ompi_osc_rdma_base_header_t*) payload;
         } else {
             done = true;
diff --git a/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_data_move.c b/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_data_move.c
index 5f00f6a056..18a34a03ac 100644
--- a/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_data_move.c
+++ b/ompi/mca/osc/rdma/osc_rdma_data_move.c
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
  *                         All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2007      Los Alamos National Security, LLC.  All rights
  *                         reserved. 
- * Copyright (c) 2009      Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2009-2010 Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  * 
  * Additional copyrights may follow
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "opal/util/arch.h"
 #include "opal/util/output.h"
 #include "opal/sys/atomic.h"
+#include "opal/align.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/pml/pml.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/bml/bml.h"
 #include "ompi/mca/bml/base/base.h"
@@ -366,6 +367,12 @@ ompi_osc_rdma_sendreq_send_cb(struct mca_btl_base_module_t* btl,
                  sizeof(ompi_osc_rdma_send_header_t) + 
                  ompi_datatype_pack_description_length(sendreq->req_target_datatype) +
                  header->hdr_msg_length);
+
+            /* The next header starts at the next aligned address in the
+             * buffer.  Therefore, bump pointer forward if necessary. */
+            header = (ompi_osc_rdma_send_header_t*)((char*)header + 
+                      OPAL_ALIGN_PAD_AMOUNT(header, sizeof(void*)));
+
             if (header->hdr_base.hdr_type == OMPI_OSC_RDMA_HDR_MULTI_END) {
                 done = true;
             }
@@ -416,6 +423,7 @@ ompi_osc_rdma_sendreq_send(ompi_osc_rdma_module_t *module,
     mca_btl_base_descriptor_t *descriptor = NULL;
     ompi_osc_rdma_send_header_t *header = NULL;
     size_t written_data = 0;
+    size_t offset;
     size_t needed_len = sizeof(ompi_osc_rdma_send_header_t);
     const void *packed_ddt;
     size_t packed_ddt_len, remain;
@@ -575,6 +583,19 @@ ompi_osc_rdma_sendreq_send(ompi_osc_rdma_module_t *module,
             /* not enough space left - send now */
             ret = send_multi_buffer(module, sendreq->req_target_rank);
         } else {
+
+            /* When putting multiple messages in a single buffer, the starting
+             * point for the next message needs to be aligned with pointer
+             * addresses.  Therefore, the pointer and the amount written are
+             * adjusted forward so that the starting position for the next
+             * message is aligned properly.  This strict alignment is required
+             * by certain platforms like SPARC.  Without it, bus errors can
+             * occur.  Keeping things aligned also may offer some performance
+             * improvements on other platforms.  */
+            offset = OPAL_ALIGN_PAD_AMOUNT(descriptor->des_src[0].seg_len, sizeof(void*));
+            descriptor->des_src[0].seg_len += offset;
+            written_data += offset;
+
             ret = OMPI_SUCCESS;
         }
 
diff --git a/opal/include/opal/align.h b/opal/include/opal/align.h
index c5db49033e..c445b06217 100644
--- a/opal/include/opal/align.h
+++ b/opal/include/opal/align.h
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
  * Copyright (c) 2004-2005 The Regents of the University of California.
  *                         All rights reserved.
  * Copyright (c) 2006      Voltaire All rights reserved.
+ * Copyright (c) 2010      Oracle and/or its affiliates.  All rights reserved.
  *
  * $COPYRIGHT$
  * 
@@ -23,5 +24,6 @@
 
 #define OPAL_ALIGN(x,a,t) (((x)+((t)(a)-1)) & ~(((t)(a)-1)))
 #define OPAL_ALIGN_PTR(x,a,t) ((t)OPAL_ALIGN((uintptr_t)x, a, uintptr_t))
+#define OPAL_ALIGN_PAD_AMOUNT(x,s) ((~((uintptr_t)(x))+1) & ((uintptr_t)(s)-1))
 
 #endif /* OPAL_ALIGN_H */