diff --git a/src/libutil-tests/alignment.cc b/src/libutil-tests/alignment.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bef0c435d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libutil-tests/alignment.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#include "nix/util/alignment.hh"
+
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+namespace nix {
+
+TEST(alignUp, value)
+{
+    for (uint64_t i = 1; i <= 8; ++i)
+        EXPECT_EQ(alignUp(i, 8), 8);
+}
+
+TEST(alignUp, notAPowerOf2)
+{
+    ASSERT_DEATH({ alignUp(1u, 42); }, "alignment must be a power of 2");
+}
+
+} // namespace nix
diff --git a/src/libutil-tests/meson.build b/src/libutil-tests/meson.build
index d84dbbb68..c75f4d90a 100644
--- a/src/libutil-tests/meson.build
+++ b/src/libutil-tests/meson.build
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ config_priv_h = configure_file(
 subdir('nix-meson-build-support/common')
 
 sources = files(
+  'alignment.cc',
   'archive.cc',
   'args.cc',
   'base-n.cc',
diff --git a/src/libutil/archive.cc b/src/libutil/archive.cc
index b8fef9ef3..73ec0cab7 100644
--- a/src/libutil/archive.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/archive.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include <strings.h> // for strcasecmp
 
 #include "nix/util/archive.hh"
+#include "nix/util/alignment.hh"
 #include "nix/util/config-global.hh"
 #include "nix/util/posix-source-accessor.hh"
 #include "nix/util/source-path.hh"
@@ -133,7 +134,7 @@ static void parseContents(CreateRegularFileSink & sink, Source & source)
     sink.preallocateContents(size);
 
     if (sink.skipContents) {
-        source.skip(size + (size % 8 ? 8 - (size % 8) : 0));
+        source.skip(alignUp(size, 8));
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/libutil/include/nix/util/alignment.hh b/src/libutil/include/nix/util/alignment.hh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a4e5af4d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/libutil/include/nix/util/alignment.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#pragma once
+///@file
+
+#include <cassert>
+#include <type_traits>
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <bit>
+
+namespace nix {
+
+/// Aligns val upwards to be a multiple of alignment.
+///
+/// @pre alignment must be a power of 2.
+template<typename T>
+    requires std::is_unsigned_v<T>
+constexpr T alignUp(T val, unsigned alignment)
+{
+    assert(std::has_single_bit(alignment) && "alignment must be a power of 2");
+    T mask = ~(T{alignment} - 1u);
+    return (val + alignment - 1) & mask;
+}
+
+} // namespace nix
diff --git a/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build b/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build
index dcfaa8e3f..9a606e15d 100644
--- a/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build
+++ b/src/libutil/include/nix/util/meson.build
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ include_dirs = [ include_directories('../..') ]
 
 headers = files(
   'abstract-setting-to-json.hh',
+  'alignment.hh',
   'ansicolor.hh',
   'archive.hh',
   'args.hh',