diff --git a/Package.swift b/Package.swift
index ba46203..f4e53f1 100644
--- a/Package.swift
+++ b/Package.swift
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ let package = Package(
     .package(
       url: "https://github.com/apple/swift-argument-parser", from: "1.3.0"),
     .package(
-      url: "https://github.com/swiftlang/swift-syntax.git", from: "602.0.0"),
+      url: "https://github.com/swiftlang/swift-syntax.git", from: "603.0.0"),
     .package(
       url: "https://github.com/pointfreeco/swift-macro-testing.git",
       from: "0.6.4"),
diff --git a/Sources/BinaryParsing/Parsers/String.swift b/Sources/BinaryParsing/Parsers/String.swift
index 28aae71..6897c11 100644
--- a/Sources/BinaryParsing/Parsers/String.swift
+++ b/Sources/BinaryParsing/Parsers/String.swift
@@ -60,10 +60,18 @@ extension String {
   internal init(_uncheckedParsingUTF16 input: inout ParserSpan)
     throws(ParsingError)
   {
+    assert(input.count.isMultiple(of: 2))
     let stringBytes = input.divide(at: input.endPosition)
     self = unsafe stringBytes.withUnsafeBytes { buffer in
-      let utf16Buffer = unsafe buffer.assumingMemoryBound(to: UInt16.self)
-      return unsafe String(decoding: utf16Buffer, as: UTF16.self)
+      guard let base = buffer.baseAddress else { return "" }
+      if base._isAligned(for: UInt16.self) {
+        let utf16Buffer = unsafe buffer.assumingMemoryBound(to: UInt16.self)
+        return unsafe String(decoding: utf16Buffer, as: UTF16.self)
+      } else {
+        let utf16Buffer = unsafe _UnalignedUnsafeBufferPointer<UInt16>(
+          _base: base, _count: buffer.count / 2)
+        return unsafe String(decoding: utf16Buffer, as: UTF16.self)
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -104,3 +112,48 @@ extension String {
     unsafe try self.init(_uncheckedParsingUTF16: &slice)
   }
 }
+
+// MARK: - Unaligned buffer pointer
+
+extension UnsafeRawPointer {
+  @_alwaysEmitIntoClient
+  @safe
+  func _isAligned<T>(for: T.Type) -> Bool {
+    Int(bitPattern: self) & (MemoryLayout<T>.alignment - 1) == 0
+  }
+}
+
+@unsafe
+@usableFromInline
+struct _UnalignedUnsafeBufferPointer<T: BitwiseCopyable> {
+  @usableFromInline
+  typealias Element = T
+  @usableFromInline
+  typealias Index = Int
+
+  @usableFromInline
+  var _base: UnsafeRawPointer
+  @usableFromInline
+  @safe var _count: Int
+
+  @_alwaysEmitIntoClient
+  init(_base: UnsafeRawPointer, _count: Int) {
+    unsafe self._base = _base
+    self._count = _count
+  }
+}
+
+extension _UnalignedUnsafeBufferPointer: @unsafe RandomAccessCollection {
+  @_alwaysEmitIntoClient
+  var startIndex: Int { 0 }
+  @_alwaysEmitIntoClient
+  var endIndex: Int { _count }
+
+  @_alwaysEmitIntoClient
+  subscript(position: Int) -> T {
+    get {
+      unsafe _base.loadUnaligned(
+        fromByteOffset: position * MemoryLayout<T>.stride, as: T.self)
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/BinaryParsingTests/StringParsingTests.swift b/Tests/BinaryParsingTests/StringParsingTests.swift
index c771516..7f17ebe 100644
--- a/Tests/BinaryParsingTests/StringParsingTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/BinaryParsingTests/StringParsingTests.swift
@@ -212,6 +212,20 @@ struct StringParsingTests {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  func parseUTF16Unaligned() throws {
+    // Prepend a single byte so that the UTF-16 code units that follow start
+    // at an odd offset within the backing buffer, forcing a misaligned load.
+    let buffer: [UInt8] = [0xAA] + testStringNonASCII.utf16Buffer
+
+    try buffer.withParserSpan { span in
+      _ = try UInt8(parsing: &span)
+      let str = try String(parsingUTF16: &span)
+      #expect(str == testStringNonASCII)
+      #expect(span.count == 0)
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   func testMultipleOperationsOnSameBuffer() throws {
     let combinedString = "\(testString)\0\(testStringNonASCII)"