diff --git a/include/block/block_int.h b/include/block/block_int.h
index 9dc7af4..0bc7ff4 100644
--- a/include/block/block_int.h
+++ b/include/block/block_int.h
@@ -322,6 +322,12 @@ struct BlockDriver {
 };

 typedef struct BlockLimits {
+    /* Alignment requirement, in bytes, for offset/length of I/O
+     * requests. Must be a power of 2, and should not exceed
+     * INT_MAX. For now, a value of 0 defaults to 512, but may change
+     * to default to 1. */
+    uint32_t request_alignment;
+
     /* maximum number of bytes that can be discarded at once (since it
      * is signed, it must be < 2G, if set), should be multiple of
      * pdiscard_alignment, but need not be power of 2. May be 0 if no
@@ -353,10 +359,10 @@ typedef struct BlockLimits {
      * should be multiple of opt_transfer), or 0 for no 32-bit limit */
     uint32_t max_transfer;

-    /* memory alignment so that no bounce buffer is needed */
+    /* memory alignment, in bytes so that no bounce buffer is needed */
     size_t min_mem_alignment;

-    /* memory alignment for bounce buffer */
+    /* memory alignment, in bytes, for bounce buffer */
     size_t opt_mem_alignment;

     /* maximum number of iovec elements */
@@ -463,8 +469,6 @@ struct BlockDriverState {
     /* Whether produces zeros when read beyond eof */
     bool zero_beyond_eof;

-    /* Alignment requirement for offset/length of I/O requests */
-    unsigned int request_alignment;
     /* Flags honored during pwrite (so far: BDRV_REQ_FUA) */
     unsigned int supported_write_flags;
     /* Flags honored during pwrite_zeroes (so far: BDRV_REQ_FUA,
diff --git a/block.c b/block.c
index f54bc25..1b56161 100644
--- a/block.c
+++ b/block.c
@@ -937,7 +937,7 @@ static int bdrv_open_common(BlockDriverState *bs, BdrvChild *file,
         goto fail_opts;
     }

-    bs->request_alignment = 512;
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = 512;
     bs->zero_beyond_eof = true;
     bs->read_only = !(bs->open_flags & BDRV_O_RDWR);

@@ -1018,7 +1018,7 @@ static int bdrv_open_common(BlockDriverState *bs, BdrvChild *file,

     assert(bdrv_opt_mem_align(bs) != 0);
     assert(bdrv_min_mem_align(bs) != 0);
-    assert(is_power_of_2(bs->request_alignment) || bdrv_is_sg(bs));
+    assert(is_power_of_2(bs->bl.request_alignment) || bdrv_is_sg(bs));

     qemu_opts_del(opts);
     return 0;
diff --git a/block/blkdebug.c b/block/blkdebug.c
index 20d25bd..d9bf3ff 100644
--- a/block/blkdebug.c
+++ b/block/blkdebug.c
@@ -382,9 +382,9 @@ static int blkdebug_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     }

     /* Set request alignment */
-    align = qemu_opt_get_size(opts, "align", bs->request_alignment);
+    align = qemu_opt_get_size(opts, "align", bs->bl.request_alignment);
     if (align > 0 && align < INT_MAX && !(align & (align - 1))) {
-        bs->request_alignment = align;
+        bs->bl.request_alignment = align;
     } else {
         error_setg(errp, "Invalid alignment");
         ret = -EINVAL;
diff --git a/block/bochs.c b/block/bochs.c
index 6c8d0f3..7bf20f5 100644
--- a/block/bochs.c
+++ b/block/bochs.c
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ static int bochs_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     int ret;

     bs->read_only = 1; // no write support yet
-    bs->request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O supported */
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O */

     ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file->bs, 0, &bochs, sizeof(bochs));
     if (ret < 0) {
diff --git a/block/cloop.c b/block/cloop.c
index ea5a92b..71237f7 100644
--- a/block/cloop.c
+++ b/block/cloop.c
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ static int cloop_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     int ret;

     bs->read_only = 1;
-    bs->request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O supported */
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O */

     /* read header */
     ret = bdrv_pread(bs->file->bs, 128, &s->block_size, 4);
diff --git a/block/dmg.c b/block/dmg.c
index 1ea5f22..ef2eeb4 100644
--- a/block/dmg.c
+++ b/block/dmg.c
@@ -440,7 +440,7 @@ static int dmg_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
     int ret;

     bs->read_only = 1;
-    bs->request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O supported */
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O */

     s->n_chunks = 0;
     s->offsets = s->lengths = s->sectors = s->sectorcounts = NULL;
diff --git a/block/io.c b/block/io.c
index e845ef9..aaeedaa 100644
--- a/block/io.c
+++ b/block/io.c
@@ -71,8 +71,10 @@ void bdrv_refresh_limits(BlockDriverState *bs, Error **errp)
 {
     BlockDriver *drv = bs->drv;
     Error *local_err = NULL;
+    uint32_t request_alignment = bs->bl.request_alignment;

     memset(&bs->bl, 0, sizeof(bs->bl));
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = request_alignment;

     if (!drv) {
         return;
@@ -429,7 +431,7 @@ static int bdrv_get_cluster_size(BlockDriverState *bs)

     ret = bdrv_get_info(bs, &bdi);
     if (ret < 0 || bdi.cluster_size == 0) {
-        return bs->request_alignment;
+        return bs->bl.request_alignment;
     } else {
         return bdi.cluster_size;
     }
@@ -1036,7 +1038,7 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_preadv(BlockDriverState *bs,
     BdrvTrackedRequest req;

     /* TODO Lift BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE restriction in BlockDriver interface */
-    uint64_t align = MAX(BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE, bs->request_alignment);
+    uint64_t align = MAX(BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE, bs->bl.request_alignment);
     uint8_t *head_buf = NULL;
     uint8_t *tail_buf = NULL;
     QEMUIOVector local_qiov;
@@ -1133,7 +1135,7 @@ static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_pwrite_zeroes(BlockDriverState *bs,

     int max_write_zeroes = MIN_NON_ZERO(bs->bl.max_pwrite_zeroes, INT_MAX);
     int alignment = MAX(bs->bl.pwrite_zeroes_alignment ?: 1,
-                        bs->request_alignment);
+                        bs->bl.request_alignment);

     assert(is_power_of_2(alignment));
     head = offset & (alignment - 1);
@@ -1291,7 +1293,7 @@ static int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_do_zero_pwritev(BlockDriverState *bs,
     uint8_t *buf = NULL;
     QEMUIOVector local_qiov;
     struct iovec iov;
-    uint64_t align = MAX(BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE, bs->request_alignment);
+    uint64_t align = MAX(BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE, bs->bl.request_alignment);
     unsigned int head_padding_bytes, tail_padding_bytes;
     int ret = 0;

@@ -1379,7 +1381,7 @@ int coroutine_fn bdrv_co_pwritev(BlockDriverState *bs,
 {
     BdrvTrackedRequest req;
     /* TODO Lift BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE restriction in BlockDriver interface */
-    uint64_t align = MAX(BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE, bs->request_alignment);
+    uint64_t align = MAX(BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE, bs->bl.request_alignment);
     uint8_t *head_buf = NULL;
     uint8_t *tail_buf = NULL;
     QEMUIOVector local_qiov;
diff --git a/block/iscsi.c b/block/iscsi.c
index 1486443..baa3e15 100644
--- a/block/iscsi.c
+++ b/block/iscsi.c
@@ -1590,7 +1590,7 @@ static int iscsi_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
         goto out;
     }
     bs->total_sectors = sector_lun2qemu(iscsilun->num_blocks, iscsilun);
-    bs->request_alignment = iscsilun->block_size;
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = iscsilun->block_size;

     /* We don't have any emulation for devices other than disks and CD-ROMs, so
      * this must be sg ioctl compatible. We force it to be sg, otherwise qemu
diff --git a/block/raw-posix.c b/block/raw-posix.c
index f3bd5ef..10a3957 100644
--- a/block/raw-posix.c
+++ b/block/raw-posix.c
@@ -302,22 +302,22 @@ static void raw_probe_alignment(BlockDriverState *bs, int fd, Error **errp)
     /* For SCSI generic devices the alignment is not really used.
        With buffered I/O, we don't have any restrictions. */
     if (bdrv_is_sg(bs) || !s->needs_alignment) {
-        bs->request_alignment = 1;
+        bs->bl.request_alignment = 1;
         s->buf_align = 1;
         return;
     }

-    bs->request_alignment = 0;
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = 0;
     s->buf_align = 0;
     /* Let's try to use the logical blocksize for the alignment. */
-    if (probe_logical_blocksize(fd, &bs->request_alignment) < 0) {
-        bs->request_alignment = 0;
+    if (probe_logical_blocksize(fd, &bs->bl.request_alignment) < 0) {
+        bs->bl.request_alignment = 0;
     }
 #ifdef CONFIG_XFS
     if (s->is_xfs) {
         struct dioattr da;
         if (xfsctl(NULL, fd, XFS_IOC_DIOINFO, &da) >= 0) {
-            bs->request_alignment = da.d_miniosz;
+            bs->bl.request_alignment = da.d_miniosz;
             /* The kernel returns wrong information for d_mem */
             /* s->buf_align = da.d_mem; */
         }
@@ -337,19 +337,19 @@ static void raw_probe_alignment(BlockDriverState *bs, int fd, Error **errp)
         qemu_vfree(buf);
     }

-    if (!bs->request_alignment) {
+    if (!bs->bl.request_alignment) {
         size_t align;
         buf = qemu_memalign(s->buf_align, max_align);
         for (align = 512; align <= max_align; align <<= 1) {
             if (raw_is_io_aligned(fd, buf, align)) {
-                bs->request_alignment = align;
+                bs->bl.request_alignment = align;
                 break;
             }
         }
         qemu_vfree(buf);
     }

-    if (!s->buf_align || !bs->request_alignment) {
+    if (!s->buf_align || !bs->bl.request_alignment) {
         error_setg(errp, "Could not find working O_DIRECT alignment. "
                          "Try cache.direct=off.");
     }
diff --git a/block/raw-win32.c b/block/raw-win32.c
index fd23891..7afdb10 100644
--- a/block/raw-win32.c
+++ b/block/raw-win32.c
@@ -230,14 +230,14 @@ static void raw_probe_alignment(BlockDriverState *bs)
     BOOL status;

     if (s->type == FTYPE_CD) {
-        bs->request_alignment = 2048;
+        bs->bl.request_alignment = 2048;
         return;
     }
     if (s->type == FTYPE_HARDDISK) {
         status = DeviceIoControl(s->hfile, IOCTL_DISK_GET_DRIVE_GEOMETRY_EX,
                                  NULL, 0, &dg, sizeof(dg), &count, NULL);
         if (status != 0) {
-            bs->request_alignment = dg.Geometry.BytesPerSector;
+            bs->bl.request_alignment = dg.Geometry.BytesPerSector;
             return;
         }
         /* try GetDiskFreeSpace too */
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ static void raw_probe_alignment(BlockDriverState *bs)
         GetDiskFreeSpace(s->drive_path, &sectorsPerCluster,
                          &dg.Geometry.BytesPerSector,
                          &freeClusters, &totalClusters);
-        bs->request_alignment = dg.Geometry.BytesPerSector;
+        bs->bl.request_alignment = dg.Geometry.BytesPerSector;
     }
 }

diff --git a/block/vvfat.c b/block/vvfat.c
index a39dbe6..aed186d 100644
--- a/block/vvfat.c
+++ b/block/vvfat.c
@@ -1180,7 +1180,7 @@ static int vvfat_open(BlockDriverState *bs, QDict *options, int flags,
         bs->read_only = 0;
     }

-    bs->request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O supported */
+    bs->bl.request_alignment = BDRV_SECTOR_SIZE; /* No sub-sector I/O */
     bs->total_sectors = cyls * heads * secs;

     if (init_directories(s, dirname, heads, secs, errp)) {
