diff --git a/util/bufferiszero.c b/util/bufferiszero.c
index 00118d649e..02df82b4ff 100644
--- a/util/bufferiszero.c
+++ b/util/bufferiszero.c
@@ -67,62 +67,97 @@ static bool buffer_is_zero_integer(const void *buf, size_t len)
 #if defined(CONFIG_AVX2_OPT) || defined(__SSE2__)
 #include <immintrin.h>
 
-/* Note that each of these vectorized functions require len >= 64.  */
+/* Helper for preventing the compiler from reassociating
+   chains of binary vector operations.  */
+#define SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(vec0, vec1) asm("" : "+x"(vec0), "+x"(vec1))
+
+/* Note that these vectorized functions may assume len >= 256.  */
 
 static bool __attribute__((target("sse2")))
 buffer_zero_sse2(const void *buf, size_t len)
 {
-    __m128i t = _mm_loadu_si128(buf);
-    __m128i *p = (__m128i *)(((uintptr_t)buf + 5 * 16) & -16);
-    __m128i *e = (__m128i *)(((uintptr_t)buf + len) & -16);
-    __m128i zero = _mm_setzero_si128();
+    /* Unaligned loads at head/tail.  */
+    __m128i v = *(__m128i_u *)(buf);
+    __m128i w = *(__m128i_u *)(buf + len - 16);
+    /* Align head/tail to 16-byte boundaries.  */
+    const __m128i *p = QEMU_ALIGN_PTR_DOWN(buf + 16, 16);
+    const __m128i *e = QEMU_ALIGN_PTR_DOWN(buf + len - 1, 16);
+    __m128i zero = { 0 };
 
-    /* Loop over 16-byte aligned blocks of 64.  */
-    while (likely(p <= e)) {
-        t = _mm_cmpeq_epi8(t, zero);
-        if (unlikely(_mm_movemask_epi8(t) != 0xFFFF)) {
+    /* Collect a partial block at tail end.  */
+    v |= e[-1]; w |= e[-2];
+    SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+    v |= e[-3]; w |= e[-4];
+    SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+    v |= e[-5]; w |= e[-6];
+    SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+    v |= e[-7]; v |= w;
+
+    /*
+     * Loop over complete 128-byte blocks.
+     * With the head and tail removed, e - p >= 14, so the loop
+     * must iterate at least once.
+     */
+    do {
+        v = _mm_cmpeq_epi8(v, zero);
+        if (unlikely(_mm_movemask_epi8(v) != 0xFFFF)) {
             return false;
         }
-        t = p[-4] | p[-3] | p[-2] | p[-1];
-        p += 4;
-    }
+        v = p[0]; w = p[1];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= p[2]; w |= p[3];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= p[4]; w |= p[5];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= p[6]; w |= p[7];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= w;
+        p += 8;
+    } while (p < e - 7);
 
-    /* Finish the aligned tail.  */
-    t |= e[-3];
-    t |= e[-2];
-    t |= e[-1];
-
-    /* Finish the unaligned tail.  */
-    t |= _mm_loadu_si128(buf + len - 16);
-
-    return _mm_movemask_epi8(_mm_cmpeq_epi8(t, zero)) == 0xFFFF;
+    return _mm_movemask_epi8(_mm_cmpeq_epi8(v, zero)) == 0xFFFF;
 }
 
 #ifdef CONFIG_AVX2_OPT
 static bool __attribute__((target("avx2")))
 buffer_zero_avx2(const void *buf, size_t len)
 {
-    /* Begin with an unaligned head of 32 bytes.  */
-    __m256i t = _mm256_loadu_si256(buf);
-    __m256i *p = (__m256i *)(((uintptr_t)buf + 5 * 32) & -32);
-    __m256i *e = (__m256i *)(((uintptr_t)buf + len) & -32);
+    /* Unaligned loads at head/tail.  */
+    __m256i v = *(__m256i_u *)(buf);
+    __m256i w = *(__m256i_u *)(buf + len - 32);
+    /* Align head/tail to 32-byte boundaries.  */
+    const __m256i *p = QEMU_ALIGN_PTR_DOWN(buf + 32, 32);
+    const __m256i *e = QEMU_ALIGN_PTR_DOWN(buf + len - 1, 32);
+    __m256i zero = { 0 };
 
-    /* Loop over 32-byte aligned blocks of 128.  */
-    while (p <= e) {
-        if (unlikely(!_mm256_testz_si256(t, t))) {
+    /* Collect a partial block at tail end.  */
+    v |= e[-1]; w |= e[-2];
+    SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+    v |= e[-3]; w |= e[-4];
+    SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+    v |= e[-5]; w |= e[-6];
+    SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+    v |= e[-7]; v |= w;
+
+    /* Loop over complete 256-byte blocks.  */
+    for (; p < e - 7; p += 8) {
+        /* PTEST is not profitable here.  */
+        v = _mm256_cmpeq_epi8(v, zero);
+        if (unlikely(_mm256_movemask_epi8(v) != 0xFFFFFFFF)) {
             return false;
         }
-        t = p[-4] | p[-3] | p[-2] | p[-1];
-        p += 4;
-    } ;
+        v = p[0]; w = p[1];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= p[2]; w |= p[3];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= p[4]; w |= p[5];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= p[6]; w |= p[7];
+        SSE_REASSOC_BARRIER(v, w);
+        v |= w;
+    }
 
-    /* Finish the last block of 128 unaligned.  */
-    t |= _mm256_loadu_si256(buf + len - 4 * 32);
-    t |= _mm256_loadu_si256(buf + len - 3 * 32);
-    t |= _mm256_loadu_si256(buf + len - 2 * 32);
-    t |= _mm256_loadu_si256(buf + len - 1 * 32);
-
-    return _mm256_testz_si256(t, t);
+    return _mm256_movemask_epi8(_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(v, zero)) == 0xFFFFFFFF;
 }
 #endif /* CONFIG_AVX2_OPT */
 
