diff --git a/src/bin/miri.rs b/src/bin/miri.rs
index 73e52af4ec51..134702047522 100644
--- a/src/bin/miri.rs
+++ b/src/bin/miri.rs
@@ -172,48 +172,41 @@ fn main() {
     init_early_loggers();
 
     // Parse our arguments and split them across `rustc` and `miri`.
-    let mut validate = true;
-    let mut stacked_borrows = true;
-    let mut check_alignment = true;
-    let mut communicate = false;
-    let mut ignore_leaks = false;
-    let mut seed: Option<u64> = None;
-    let mut tracked_pointer_tag: Option<miri::PtrId> = None;
-    let mut tracked_call_id: Option<miri::CallId> = None;
-    let mut tracked_alloc_id: Option<miri::AllocId> = None;
+    let mut miri_config = miri::MiriConfig::default();
     let mut rustc_args = vec![];
-    let mut crate_args = vec![];
     let mut after_dashdash = false;
-    let mut excluded_env_vars = vec![];
     for arg in env::args() {
         if rustc_args.is_empty() {
             // Very first arg: binary name.
             rustc_args.push(arg);
         } else if after_dashdash {
             // Everything that comes after `--` is forwarded to the interpreted crate.
-            crate_args.push(arg);
+            miri_config.args.push(arg);
         } else {
             match arg.as_str() {
                 "-Zmiri-disable-validation" => {
-                    validate = false;
+                    miri_config.validate = false;
                 }
                 "-Zmiri-disable-stacked-borrows" => {
-                    stacked_borrows = false;
+                    miri_config.stacked_borrows = false;
                 }
                 "-Zmiri-disable-alignment-check" => {
-                    check_alignment = false;
+                    miri_config.check_alignment = miri::AlignmentCheck::None;
+                }
+                "-Zmiri-symbolic-alignment-check" => {
+                    miri_config.check_alignment = miri::AlignmentCheck::Symbolic;
                 }
                 "-Zmiri-disable-isolation" => {
-                    communicate = true;
+                    miri_config.communicate = true;
                 }
                 "-Zmiri-ignore-leaks" => {
-                    ignore_leaks = true;
+                    miri_config.ignore_leaks = true;
                 }
                 "--" => {
                     after_dashdash = true;
                 }
                 arg if arg.starts_with("-Zmiri-seed=") => {
-                    if seed.is_some() {
+                    if miri_config.seed.is_some() {
                         panic!("Cannot specify -Zmiri-seed multiple times!");
                     }
                     let seed_raw = hex::decode(arg.strip_prefix("-Zmiri-seed=").unwrap())
@@ -234,10 +227,10 @@ fn main() {
 
                     let mut bytes = [0; 8];
                     bytes[..seed_raw.len()].copy_from_slice(&seed_raw);
-                    seed = Some(u64::from_be_bytes(bytes));
+                    miri_config.seed = Some(u64::from_be_bytes(bytes));
                 }
                 arg if arg.starts_with("-Zmiri-env-exclude=") => {
-                    excluded_env_vars
+                    miri_config.excluded_env_vars
                         .push(arg.strip_prefix("-Zmiri-env-exclude=").unwrap().to_owned());
                 }
                 arg if arg.starts_with("-Zmiri-track-pointer-tag=") => {
@@ -249,7 +242,7 @@ fn main() {
                         ),
                     };
                     if let Some(id) = miri::PtrId::new(id) {
-                        tracked_pointer_tag = Some(id);
+                        miri_config.tracked_pointer_tag = Some(id);
                     } else {
                         panic!("-Zmiri-track-pointer-tag requires a nonzero argument");
                     }
@@ -263,7 +256,7 @@ fn main() {
                         ),
                     };
                     if let Some(id) = miri::CallId::new(id) {
-                        tracked_call_id = Some(id);
+                        miri_config.tracked_call_id = Some(id);
                     } else {
                         panic!("-Zmiri-track-call-id requires a nonzero argument");
                     }
@@ -276,7 +269,7 @@ fn main() {
                             err
                         ),
                     };
-                    tracked_alloc_id = Some(miri::AllocId(id));
+                    miri_config.tracked_alloc_id = Some(miri::AllocId(id));
                 }
                 _ => {
                     // Forward to rustc.
@@ -287,19 +280,6 @@ fn main() {
     }
 
     debug!("rustc arguments: {:?}", rustc_args);
-    debug!("crate arguments: {:?}", crate_args);
-    let miri_config = miri::MiriConfig {
-        validate,
-        stacked_borrows,
-        check_alignment,
-        communicate,
-        ignore_leaks,
-        excluded_env_vars,
-        seed,
-        args: crate_args,
-        tracked_pointer_tag,
-        tracked_call_id,
-        tracked_alloc_id,
-    };
+    debug!("crate arguments: {:?}", miri_config.args);
     run_compiler(rustc_args, &mut MiriCompilerCalls { miri_config })
 }
diff --git a/src/eval.rs b/src/eval.rs
index cc5a6eb21fab..8e4604c3360a 100644
--- a/src/eval.rs
+++ b/src/eval.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,16 @@ use rustc_target::abi::LayoutOf;
 
 use crate::*;
 
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
+pub enum AlignmentCheck {
+    /// Do not check alignment.
+    None,
+    /// Check alignment "symbolically", i.e., using only the requested alignment for an allocation and not its real base address.
+    Symbolic,
+    /// Check alignment on the actual physical integer address.
+    Int,
+}
+
 /// Configuration needed to spawn a Miri instance.
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct MiriConfig {
@@ -20,8 +30,8 @@ pub struct MiriConfig {
     pub validate: bool,
     /// Determines if Stacked Borrows is enabled.
     pub stacked_borrows: bool,
-    /// Determines if alignment checking is enabled.
-    pub check_alignment: bool,
+    /// Controls alignment checking.
+    pub check_alignment: AlignmentCheck,
     /// Determines if communication with the host environment is enabled.
     pub communicate: bool,
     /// Determines if memory leaks should be ignored.
@@ -45,7 +55,7 @@ impl Default for MiriConfig {
         MiriConfig {
             validate: true,
             stacked_borrows: true,
-            check_alignment: true,
+            check_alignment: AlignmentCheck::Int,
             communicate: false,
             ignore_leaks: false,
             excluded_env_vars: vec![],
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 816917081a8c..1b66d5ff6f31 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ pub use crate::diagnostics::{
     register_diagnostic, report_error, EvalContextExt as DiagnosticsEvalContextExt,
     TerminationInfo, NonHaltingDiagnostic,
 };
-pub use crate::eval::{create_ecx, eval_main, MiriConfig};
+pub use crate::eval::{create_ecx, eval_main, AlignmentCheck, MiriConfig};
 pub use crate::helpers::EvalContextExt as HelpersEvalContextExt;
 pub use crate::machine::{
     AllocExtra, Evaluator, FrameData, MemoryExtra, MiriEvalContext, MiriEvalContextExt,
diff --git a/src/machine.rs b/src/machine.rs
index 04bba6c33cdb..f2abb2ae0e7e 100644
--- a/src/machine.rs
+++ b/src/machine.rs
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ pub struct MemoryExtra {
     tracked_alloc_id: Option<AllocId>,
 
     /// Controls whether alignment of memory accesses is being checked.
-    check_alignment: bool,
+    check_alignment: AlignmentCheck,
 }
 
 impl MemoryExtra {
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ impl MemoryExtra {
         tracked_pointer_tag: Option<PtrId>,
         tracked_call_id: Option<CallId>,
         tracked_alloc_id: Option<AllocId>,
-        check_alignment: bool,
+        check_alignment: AlignmentCheck,
     ) -> Self {
         let stacked_borrows = if stacked_borrows {
             Some(Rc::new(RefCell::new(stacked_borrows::GlobalState::new(tracked_pointer_tag, tracked_call_id))))
@@ -336,7 +336,12 @@ impl<'mir, 'tcx> Machine<'mir, 'tcx> for Evaluator<'mir, 'tcx> {
 
     #[inline(always)]
     fn enforce_alignment(memory_extra: &MemoryExtra) -> bool {
-        memory_extra.check_alignment
+        memory_extra.check_alignment != AlignmentCheck::None
+    }
+
+    #[inline(always)]
+    fn force_int_for_alignment_check(memory_extra: &Self::MemoryExtra) -> bool {
+        memory_extra.check_alignment == AlignmentCheck::Int
     }
 
     #[inline(always)]
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/atomic_unaligned.rs b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/atomic_unaligned.rs
index bdec0ff504bb..77eff5087dac 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/atomic_unaligned.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/atomic_unaligned.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+// compile-flags: -Zmiri-symbolic-alignment-check
 #![feature(core_intrinsics)]
 
 fn main() {
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/dyn_alignment.rs b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/dyn_alignment.rs
index aa293a5d2167..a40db99a72a6 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/dyn_alignment.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/dyn_alignment.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// should find the bug even without these, but gets masked by optimizations
+// should find the bug even without validation and stacked borrows, but gets masked by optimizations
 // compile-flags: -Zmiri-disable-validation -Zmiri-disable-stacked-borrows -Zmir-opt-level=0
 
 #[repr(align(256))]
@@ -15,5 +15,5 @@ fn main() {
     // Overwrite the data part of `ptr` so it points to `buf`.
     unsafe { (&mut ptr as *mut _ as *mut *const u8).write(&buf as *const _ as *const u8); }
     // Re-borrow that. This should be UB.
-    let _ptr = &*ptr; //~ ERROR accessing memory with alignment 4, but alignment 256 is required
+    let _ptr = &*ptr; //~ ERROR alignment 256 is required
 }
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/intptrcast_alignment_check.rs b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/intptrcast_alignment_check.rs
index 0a3b48dab5a0..3865d4578637 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/intptrcast_alignment_check.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/intptrcast_alignment_check.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
-// Even with intptrcast and without validation, we want to be *sure* to catch bugs
-// that arise from pointers being insufficiently aligned. The only way to achieve
-// that is not not let programs exploit integer information for alignment, so here
-// we test that this is indeed the case.
+// compile-flags: -Zmiri-symbolic-alignment-check
+// With the symbolic alignment check, even with intptrcast and without
+// validation, we want to be *sure* to catch bugs that arise from pointers being
+// insufficiently aligned. The only way to achieve that is not not let programs
+// exploit integer information for alignment, so here we test that this is
+// indeed the case.
 //
 // See https://github.com/rust-lang/miri/issues/1074.
 fn main() {
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/reference_to_packed.rs b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/reference_to_packed.rs
index 08104e917d21..a1240c90182a 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/reference_to_packed.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/reference_to_packed.rs
@@ -15,5 +15,5 @@ fn main() {
         y: 99,
     };
     let p = unsafe { &foo.x };
-    let i = *p; //~ ERROR memory with alignment 1, but alignment 4 is required
+    let i = *p; //~ ERROR alignment 4 is required
 }
diff --git a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/unaligned_ptr_zst.rs b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/unaligned_ptr_zst.rs
index 31f88c838149..beba47359b55 100644
--- a/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/unaligned_ptr_zst.rs
+++ b/tests/compile-fail/unaligned_pointers/unaligned_ptr_zst.rs
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@
 // compile-flags: -Zmiri-disable-validation
 
 fn main() {
-    let x = &2u16;
+    let x = &2u8;
     let x = x as *const _ as *const [u32; 0];
     // This must fail because alignment is violated. Test specifically for loading ZST.
     let _x = unsafe { *x };
-    //~^ ERROR memory with alignment 2, but alignment 4 is required
+    //~^ ERROR alignment 4 is required
 }
diff --git a/tests/run-pass/align.rs b/tests/run-pass/align.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b3d268f45e4b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/run-pass/align.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// This manually makes sure that we have a pointer with the proper alignment.
+// Do this a couple times in a loop because it may work "by chance".
+fn main() {
+    for _ in 0..10 {
+        let x = &mut [0u8; 3];
+        let base_addr = x as *mut _ as usize;
+        let base_addr_aligned = if base_addr % 2 == 0 { base_addr } else { base_addr+1 };
+        let u16_ptr = base_addr_aligned as *mut u16;
+        unsafe { *u16_ptr = 2; }
+    }
+}