diff --git a/src/hvif-light.c b/src/hvif-light.c
index 15cd1fb..d126890 100644
--- a/src/hvif-light.c
+++ b/src/hvif-light.c
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ typedef enum hvif_line_cap
 	HVIF_LINE_CAP_TYPE_MAX
 } hvif_line_cap;
 
-/* An affine transformation. Ugly until I understand better how they are used */
+/* An affine transformation. */
 typedef struct hvif_matrix hvif_matrix;
 struct hvif_matrix
 {
@@ -242,8 +242,13 @@ hvif_decode_float(uint8_t buffer[static 1])
 		return 0.0;
 	else {
 		/* TODO: float might not be IEEE 754 compatible */
-		uint32_t value = (sign << 31) | ((exponent + 127) << 23) | mantissa;
-		return *((float*)&value);
+		union
+		{
+			uint32_t uint_f;
+			float float_f;
+		} value;
+		value.uint_f = (sign << 31) | ((exponent + 127) << 23) | mantissa;
+		return value.float_f;
 	}
 }
 static inline hvif_matrix