diff --git a/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.cpp b/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.cpp
index 4a3fd73dc1f..6ca739c3059 100644
--- a/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ void QContiguousCacheData::dump() const
 
 QContiguousCacheData *QContiguousCacheData::allocateData(qsizetype size, qsizetype alignment)
 {
-    return static_cast<QContiguousCacheData *>(qMallocAligned(size_t(size), size_t(alignment)));
+    void *mem = qMallocAligned(size_t(size), size_t(alignment));
+    return new (mem) QContiguousCacheData{/*ref=*/1, 0, 0, 0, 0};
 }
 
 void QContiguousCacheData::freeData(QContiguousCacheData *data)
diff --git a/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.h b/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.h
index e630b56cfa1..8dfa0874050 100644
--- a/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.h
+++ b/src/corelib/tools/qcontiguouscache.h
@@ -152,7 +152,6 @@ template <typename T>
 void QContiguousCache<T>::detach_helper()
 {
     Data *x = allocateData(d->alloc);
-    x->ref.storeRelaxed(1);
     x->count = d->count;
     x->start = d->start;
     x->offset = d->offset;
@@ -184,7 +183,6 @@ void QContiguousCache<T>::setCapacity(qsizetype asize)
         return;
     detach();
     Data *x = allocateData(asize);
-    x->ref.storeRelaxed(1);
     x->alloc = asize;
     x->count = qMin(d->count, asize);
     x->offset = d->offset + d->count - x->count;
@@ -231,7 +229,6 @@ void QContiguousCache<T>::clear()
         d->count = d->start = d->offset = 0;
     } else {
         Data *x = allocateData(d->alloc);
-        x->ref.storeRelaxed(1);
         x->alloc = d->alloc;
         x->count = x->start = x->offset = 0;
         if (!d->ref.deref())
@@ -251,7 +248,6 @@ QContiguousCache<T>::QContiguousCache(qsizetype cap)
 {
     Q_ASSERT(cap >= 0);
     d = allocateData(cap);
-    d->ref.storeRelaxed(1);
     d->alloc = cap;
     d->count = d->start = d->offset = 0;
 }