diff --git a/src/corelib/text/qstring.cpp b/src/corelib/text/qstring.cpp
index fe8781bc003..10f481fce7e 100644
--- a/src/corelib/text/qstring.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/text/qstring.cpp
@@ -1243,8 +1243,9 @@ Q_NEVER_INLINE static int ucstricmp8(const char *utf8, const char *utf8end, cons
     QStringIterator src2(utf16, utf16end);
 
     while (src1 < end1 && src2.hasNext()) {
-        char32_t uc1 = 0;
-        char32_t *output = &uc1;
+        char32_t decoded[1];
+        char32_t *output = decoded;
+        char32_t &uc1 = decoded[0];
         uchar b = *src1++;
         const qsizetype res = QUtf8Functions::fromUtf8<QUtf8BaseTraits>(b, output, src1, end1);
         if (res < 0) {