diff --git a/src/include/sof/common.h b/src/include/sof/common.h
index 8db626b178a5..03dd886ad4a1 100644
--- a/src/include/sof/common.h
+++ b/src/include/sof/common.h
@@ -77,7 +77,12 @@
 
 #endif
 
-#define ALIGN ALIGN_UP
+/* This most basic ALIGN() must be used in header files that are
+ * included in both C and assembly code. memory.h files require this
+ * exact spelling matching the linker function because memory.h values
+ * are _also_ copied unprocessed to the .x[.in] linker script
+ */
+#define ALIGN(val, align) ALIGN_UP_INTERNAL(val, align)
 #define DIV_ROUND_UP(val, div) (((val) + (div) - 1) / (div))
 
 #if !defined(__ASSEMBLER__)
diff --git a/src/lib/alloc.c b/src/lib/alloc.c
index bde1633ebb61..3705b7719787 100644
--- a/src/lib/alloc.c
+++ b/src/lib/alloc.c
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ static void *align_ptr(struct mm_heap *heap, uint32_t alignment,
 	if (alignment <= 1)
 		return ptr;
 
-	return (void *)ALIGN((uintptr_t)ptr, alignment);
+	return (void *)ALIGN_UP((uintptr_t)ptr, alignment);
 }
 
 /* allocate single block */
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ static void *alloc_cont_blocks(struct mm_heap *heap, int level,
 
 			/* Check if we can start a sequence here */
 			if (alignment) {
-				aligned = ALIGN(blk_start, alignment);
+				aligned = ALIGN_UP(blk_start, alignment);
 
 				if (blk_start & (alignment - 1) &&
 				    aligned >= blk_start + map->block_size)
@@ -881,7 +881,7 @@ static void *alloc_heap_buffer(struct mm_heap *heap, uint32_t flags,
 			if (hdr->used)
 				continue;
 
-			aligned = ALIGN(free_start, alignment);
+			aligned = ALIGN_UP(free_start, alignment);
 
 			if (aligned + bytes > free_start + map->block_size)
 				continue;
diff --git a/src/platform/intel/cavs/lib/pm_memory.c b/src/platform/intel/cavs/lib/pm_memory.c
index 1af986c0ed3f..967e62aaa4f3 100644
--- a/src/platform/intel/cavs/lib/pm_memory.c
+++ b/src/platform/intel/cavs/lib/pm_memory.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ static void memory_banks_get(void *start, void *end, uint32_t base,
 	 * or end for end address
 	 */
 	if ((uintptr_t)start % SRAM_BANK_SIZE)
-		start = (void *)ALIGN((uintptr_t)start, SRAM_BANK_SIZE);
+		start = (void *)ALIGN_UP((uintptr_t)start, SRAM_BANK_SIZE);
 
 	if ((uintptr_t)end % SRAM_BANK_SIZE)
 		end = (void *)ALIGN_DOWN((uintptr_t)end, SRAM_BANK_SIZE);