diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b5b8d96dc3b..4fbc4845394 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -161,7 +161,6 @@ set(libtorrent_extensions_include_files
 set(libtorrent_aux_include_files
 	alert_manager
 	aligned_storage
-	aligned_union
 	alloca
 	allocating_handler
 	array
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c40361acbaf..1ab86a2e4b3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -542,7 +542,6 @@ HEADERS = \
   \
   aux_/alert_manager.hpp            \
   aux_/aligned_storage.hpp          \
-  aux_/aligned_union.hpp            \
   aux_/alloca.hpp                   \
   aux_/allocating_handler.hpp       \
   aux_/announce_entry.hpp           \
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/aligned_union.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/aligned_union.hpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 54aa25931ca..00000000000
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/aligned_union.hpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-/*
-
-Copyright (c) 2017, 2020, Arvid Norberg
-Copyright (c) 2017, Alden Torres
-All rights reserved.
-
-You may use, distribute and modify this code under the terms of the BSD license,
-see LICENSE file.
-*/
-
-#ifndef TORRENT_ALIGNED_UNION_HPP_INCLUDE
-#define TORRENT_ALIGNED_UNION_HPP_INCLUDE
-
-#include <type_traits>
-
-namespace libtorrent { namespace aux {
-
-#if defined __GNUC__ && __GNUC__ < 5 && !defined(_LIBCPP_VERSION)
-
-constexpr std::size_t max(std::size_t a)
-{ return a; }
-
-constexpr std::size_t max(std::size_t a, std::size_t b)
-{ return a > b ? a : b; }
-
-template <typename... Vals>
-constexpr std::size_t max(std::size_t a, std::size_t b, Vals... v)
-{ return max(a, max(b, v...)); }
-
-// this is for backwards compatibility with not-quite C++11 compilers
-template <std::size_t Len, typename... Types>
-struct aligned_union
-{
-	struct type
-	{
-		alignas(max(alignof(Types)...))
-			char buffer[max(Len, max(sizeof(Types)...))];
-	};
-};
-
-#else
-
-using std::aligned_union;
-
-#endif
-
-}}
-
-#endif
diff --git a/include/libtorrent/aux_/socket_type.hpp b/include/libtorrent/aux_/socket_type.hpp
index ecb04e065c6..874368e060b 100644
--- a/include/libtorrent/aux_/socket_type.hpp
+++ b/include/libtorrent/aux_/socket_type.hpp
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ see LICENSE file.
 #define TORRENT_SOCKET_TYPE
 
 #include "libtorrent/assert.hpp"
-#include "libtorrent/aux_/aligned_union.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/polymorphic_socket.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/rtc_stream.hpp"
 #include "libtorrent/aux_/utp_stream.hpp"
diff --git a/src/kademlia/rpc_manager.cpp b/src/kademlia/rpc_manager.cpp
index 609dcb7526a..5f5c4bea652 100644
--- a/src/kademlia/rpc_manager.cpp
+++ b/src/kademlia/rpc_manager.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ see LICENSE file.
 
 #include <libtorrent/socket_io.hpp> // for print_endpoint
 #include <libtorrent/aux_/time.hpp> // for aux::time_now
-#include <libtorrent/aux_/aligned_union.hpp>
 #include <libtorrent/aux_/ip_helpers.hpp> // for is_v6
 
 #include <type_traits>
@@ -113,17 +112,20 @@ void observer::set_id(node_id const& id)
 	if (m_algorithm) m_algorithm->resort_result(this);
 }
 
-using observer_storage = aux::aligned_union<1
-	, find_data_observer
-	, announce_observer
-	, put_data_observer
-	, direct_observer
-	, get_item_observer
-	, get_peers_observer
-	, obfuscated_get_peers_observer
-	, sample_infohashes_observer
-	, null_observer
-	, traversal_observer>::type;
+namespace {
+
+	std::size_t const observer_storage_size = std::max(
+	{sizeof(find_data_observer)
+	, sizeof(announce_observer)
+	, sizeof(put_data_observer)
+	, sizeof(direct_observer)
+	, sizeof(get_item_observer)
+	, sizeof(get_peers_observer)
+	, sizeof(obfuscated_get_peers_observer)
+	, sizeof(sample_infohashes_observer)
+	, sizeof(null_observer)
+	, sizeof(traversal_observer)});
+}
 
 rpc_manager::rpc_manager(node_id const& our_id
 	, aux::session_settings const& settings
@@ -131,7 +133,7 @@ rpc_manager::rpc_manager(node_id const& our_id
 	, aux::listen_socket_handle sock
 	, socket_manager* sock_man
 	, dht_logger* log)
-	: m_pool_allocator(sizeof(observer_storage), 10)
+	: m_pool_allocator(observer_storage_size, 10)
 	, m_sock(std::move(sock))
 	, m_sock_man(sock_man)
 #ifndef TORRENT_DISABLE_LOGGING
@@ -177,7 +179,7 @@ void rpc_manager::free_observer(void* ptr)
 #if TORRENT_USE_ASSERTS
 size_t rpc_manager::allocation_size() const
 {
-	return sizeof(observer_storage);
+	return observer_storage_size;
 }
 #endif
 #if TORRENT_USE_INVARIANT_CHECKS