--- a/src/lib/getuint32.h	
+++ a/src/lib/getuint32.h	
@@ -1,12 +1,20 @@ 
 #ifndef _SD_GET_UINT32_H_
 #define _SD_GET_UINT32_H_
+#if defined(ARM) || defined(__sparc__)
+#include <string.h>
+#endif
 
-#ifdef ARM
+#if defined(ARM) || defined(__sparc__)
 static inline guint32 get_uint32(const gchar *addr)
 {
-	guint32 result;
-	memcpy(&result, addr, sizeof(guint32));
-	return result;
+	if (((addr - (char *)0) & 3) == 0) {
+		/* already aligned properly */
+		return *reinterpret_cast<const guint32 *>(addr);
+	} else {
+		guint32 result;
+		memcpy(&result, addr, sizeof(guint32));
+		return result;
+	}
 }
 #else
 #define get_uint32(x) *reinterpret_cast<const guint32 *>(x)
--- a/src/lib/stddict.cpp	
+++ a/src/lib/stddict.cpp	
@@ -358,6 +358,11 @@ MapFile* cache_file::get_cache_loadfile(const gchar *filename, const std::string
 
 bool cache_file::load_cache(const std::string& url, const std::string& saveurl, CollateFunctions cltfunc, glong filedatasize)
 {
+#if defined(ARM) || defined(__sparc__)
+	/* XXX: remove this after cache loading has been fixed to align the
+	 * loaded data */
+	return false;
+#endif
 	std::string oftfilename;
 	if (cachefiletype == CacheFileType_oft)
 		oftfilename=saveurl+".oft";