diff --git a/components/retro-go/rg_gui.c b/components/retro-go/rg_gui.c
index df645b43..1dec0e19 100644
--- a/components/retro-go/rg_gui.c
+++ b/components/retro-go/rg_gui.c
@@ -1066,7 +1066,7 @@ char *rg_gui_file_picker(const char *title, const char *path, bool (*validator)(
     file_picker_opts_t options = {
         .options = calloc(8, sizeof(rg_gui_option_t)),
         .count = 0,
-        .filenames = rg_bucket_create(4096, 1),
+        .filenames = rg_bucket_create(4096),
         .validator = validator,
     };
     char *filepath = NULL;
diff --git a/components/retro-go/rg_utils.c b/components/retro-go/rg_utils.c
index c354a5b2..73ca46b7 100644
--- a/components/retro-go/rg_utils.c
+++ b/components/retro-go/rg_utils.c
@@ -355,19 +355,17 @@ typedef struct rg_bucket_s
 {
     size_t capacity;
     size_t cursor;
-    size_t alignment;
     rg_bucket_t *prev;
     rg_bucket_t *next;
     uint8_t data[];
 } rg_bucket_t;
 
-rg_bucket_t *rg_bucket_create(size_t capacity_bytes, size_t alignment_bytes)
+rg_bucket_t *rg_bucket_create(size_t capacity_bytes)
 {
     rg_bucket_t *bucket = calloc(1, sizeof(rg_bucket_t) + capacity_bytes);
     if (!bucket)
         return NULL;
     bucket->capacity = capacity_bytes;
-    bucket->alignment = alignment_bytes ?: 1;
     return bucket;
 }
 
@@ -382,7 +380,7 @@ void *rg_bucket_insert(rg_bucket_t *bucket, const void *item, size_t item_bytes)
     {
         if (!bucket->next) // End of the list, must allocate
         {
-            rg_bucket_t *new_bucket = rg_bucket_create(bucket->capacity, bucket->alignment);
+            rg_bucket_t *new_bucket = rg_bucket_create(bucket->capacity);
             if (!new_bucket)
                 return NULL;
             new_bucket->prev = bucket;
@@ -392,9 +390,11 @@ void *rg_bucket_insert(rg_bucket_t *bucket, const void *item, size_t item_bytes)
         }
         bucket = bucket->next;
     }
-    void *ptr = memcpy(bucket->data + bucket->cursor, item, item_bytes);
-    bucket->cursor += item_bytes;
-    bucket->cursor += bucket->cursor % bucket->alignment;
+    void *ptr = bucket->data + bucket->cursor;
+    if (item)
+        memcpy(ptr, item, item_bytes);
+    bucket->cursor += ((item_bytes + (sizeof(int) - 1)) / sizeof(int)) * sizeof(int);
+    // bucket->cursor += item_bytes;
     return ptr;
 }
 
@@ -408,9 +408,6 @@ void rg_bucket_free(rg_bucket_t *bucket)
     }
 }
 
-// Note: You should use calloc/malloc everywhere possible. This function is used to ensure
-// that some memory is put in specific regions for performance or hardware reasons.
-// Memory from this function should be freed with free()
 void *rg_alloc(size_t size, uint32_t caps)
 {
     char caps_list[36] = "";
diff --git a/components/retro-go/rg_utils.h b/components/retro-go/rg_utils.h
index 16ac9101..d1f77718 100644
--- a/components/retro-go/rg_utils.h
+++ b/components/retro-go/rg_utils.h
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@
  * they cannot be freed. unique avoids keeping multiple copies of an identical string (eg a path)
  * Things like unique_string("abc") == unique_string("abc") are guaranteed to be true
 */
-const char *rg_const_string(const char *str);
 const char *rg_unique_string(const char *str);
 char *rg_strtolower(char *str);
 char *rg_strtoupper(char *str);
@@ -74,14 +73,18 @@ uint32_t rg_crc32(uint32_t crc, const uint8_t *buf, size_t len);
 uint32_t rg_hash(const char *buf, size_t len);
 
 /* Bucket allocator */
-// The bucket allocator is basically a linked-list of buckets. It's not smart in any way and can only grow.
-// Its purpose is to replace thousands of small allocations that fill internal memory (eg strdup)
+// The bucket allocator is basically a linked-list of fixed-size buckets that can contain variable-sized items.
+// It does not keep track of individual items and items cannot be removed or resized.
+// Its purpose is to replace the thousands of small allocations that fill internal memory (eg strdup)
 typedef struct rg_bucket_s rg_bucket_t;
-rg_bucket_t *rg_bucket_create(size_t capacity_bytes, size_t alignment_bytes);
+rg_bucket_t *rg_bucket_create(size_t capacity_bytes);
 void *rg_bucket_insert(rg_bucket_t *bucket, const void *item, size_t item_bytes);
 void rg_bucket_free(rg_bucket_t *bucket);
 
 /* Misc */
+// Note: You should use calloc/malloc everywhere possible. This function is used to ensure
+// that some memory is put in specific regions for performance or hardware reasons.
+// Memory from this function should be freed with free()
 void *rg_alloc(size_t size, uint32_t caps);
 // rg_usleep behaves like usleep in libc: it will sleep for *at least* `us` microseconds, but possibly more
 // due to scheduling. You should use rg_task_delay() if you don't need more than 10-15ms granularity.
diff --git a/launcher/main/applications.c b/launcher/main/applications.c
index 9c0d8ccb..6af4768c 100644
--- a/launcher/main/applications.c
+++ b/launcher/main/applications.c
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ static void event_handler(gui_event_t event, tab_t *tab)
         if (app && app->initialized)
         {
             rg_bucket_free(app->filenames);
-            app->filenames = rg_bucket_create(4096, 1);
+            app->filenames = rg_bucket_create(4096);
             app->files_count = 0;
             app->initialized = false;
         }
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ static void application(const char *desc, const char *name, const char *exts, co
     app->available = rg_system_have_app(app->partition);
     app->files = calloc(100, sizeof(retro_file_t));
     app->files_capacity = 100;
-    app->filenames = rg_bucket_create(4096, 1);
+    app->filenames = rg_bucket_create(4096);
     app->crc_offset = crc_offset;
 
     gui_add_tab(app->short_name, app->description, app, event_handler);