diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-efi-firmware-volume.c b/libfwupdplugin/fu-efi-firmware-volume.c
index cbbda5f87..a03876cf8 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-efi-firmware-volume.c
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-efi-firmware-volume.c
@@ -301,6 +301,16 @@ fu_efi_firmware_volume_write(FuFirmware *firmware, GError **error)
 	g_autoptr(GBytes) img_blob = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(FuFirmware) img = NULL;
 
+	/* sanity check */
+	if (fu_firmware_get_alignment(firmware) > FU_FIRMWARE_ALIGNMENT_1M) {
+		g_set_error(error,
+			    FWUPD_ERROR,
+			    FWUPD_ERROR_INVALID_FILE,
+			    "alignment invalid, got 0x%02x",
+			    fu_firmware_get_alignment(firmware));
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	/* zero vector */
 	for (guint i = 0; i < 0x10; i++)
 		fu_byte_array_append_uint8(buf, 0x0);
diff --git a/libfwupdplugin/fu-ifd-image.c b/libfwupdplugin/fu-ifd-image.c
index 4a0e22788..c076c9244 100644
--- a/libfwupdplugin/fu-ifd-image.c
+++ b/libfwupdplugin/fu-ifd-image.c
@@ -75,6 +75,16 @@ fu_ifd_image_write(FuFirmware *firmware, GError **error)
 	g_autoptr(GByteArray) buf = g_byte_array_new();
 	g_autoptr(GPtrArray) images = fu_firmware_get_images(firmware);
 
+	/* sanity check */
+	if (fu_firmware_get_alignment(firmware) > FU_FIRMWARE_ALIGNMENT_1M) {
+		g_set_error(error,
+			    FWUPD_ERROR,
+			    FWUPD_ERROR_INVALID_FILE,
+			    "alignment invalid, got 0x%02x",
+			    fu_firmware_get_alignment(firmware));
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	/* add each volume */
 	if (images->len > 0) {
 		for (guint i = 0; i < images->len; i++) {
diff --git a/plugins/bcm57xx/fu-bcm57xx-stage1-image.c b/plugins/bcm57xx/fu-bcm57xx-stage1-image.c
index c0508518a..5b98aebd0 100644
--- a/plugins/bcm57xx/fu-bcm57xx-stage1-image.c
+++ b/plugins/bcm57xx/fu-bcm57xx-stage1-image.c
@@ -102,6 +102,16 @@ fu_bcm57xx_stage1_image_write(FuFirmware *firmware, GError **error)
 	g_autoptr(GByteArray) buf = g_byte_array_new();
 	g_autoptr(GBytes) fw_nocrc = NULL;
 
+	/* sanity check */
+	if (fu_firmware_get_alignment(firmware) > FU_FIRMWARE_ALIGNMENT_1M) {
+		g_set_error(error,
+			    FWUPD_ERROR,
+			    FWUPD_ERROR_INVALID_FILE,
+			    "alignment invalid, got 0x%02x",
+			    fu_firmware_get_alignment(firmware));
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
 	/* the CRC-less payload */
 	fw_nocrc = fu_firmware_get_bytes(firmware, error);
 	if (fw_nocrc == NULL)