diff --git a/include/spdk/bdev_module.h b/include/spdk/bdev_module.h
index d88be7adf..9327e8f81 100644
--- a/include/spdk/bdev_module.h
+++ b/include/spdk/bdev_module.h
@@ -261,10 +261,13 @@ struct spdk_bdev {
 	uint64_t blockcnt;
 
 	/**
-	 * This is used to make sure buffers are sector aligned.
-	 * This causes double buffering on writes.
+	 * Specifies an alignment requirement for data buffers associated with an spdk_bdev_io.
+	 * 0 = no alignment requirement
+	 * >0 = alignment requirement is 2 ^ required_alignment.
+	 * bdev layer will automatically double buffer any spdk_bdev_io that violates this
+	 * alignment, before the spdk_bdev_io is submitted to the bdev module.
 	 */
-	bool need_aligned_buffer;
+	uint8_t required_alignment;
 
 	/**
 	 * Specifies whether the optimal_io_boundary is mandatory or
diff --git a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
index bb0289ed1..1e32d81c9 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/aio/bdev_aio.c
@@ -549,7 +549,6 @@ create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 	fdisk->disk.product_name = "AIO disk";
 	fdisk->disk.module = &aio_if;
 
-	fdisk->disk.need_aligned_buffer = 1;
 	fdisk->disk.write_cache = 1;
 
 	detected_block_size = spdk_fd_get_blocklen(fdisk->fd);
@@ -586,6 +585,7 @@ create_aio_disk(const char *name, const char *filename, uint32_t block_size)
 	}
 
 	fdisk->disk.blocklen = block_size;
+	fdisk->disk.required_alignment = spdk_u32log2(block_size);
 
 	if (disk_size % fdisk->disk.blocklen != 0) {
 		SPDK_ERRLOG("Disk size %" PRIu64 " is not a multiple of block size %" PRIu32 "\n",
diff --git a/lib/bdev/bdev.c b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
index f5be0d413..5da6bb648 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/bdev.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/bdev.c
@@ -2034,12 +2034,7 @@ spdk_bdev_get_qos_rate_limits(struct spdk_bdev *bdev, uint64_t *limits)
 size_t
 spdk_bdev_get_buf_align(const struct spdk_bdev *bdev)
 {
-	/* TODO: push this logic down to the bdev modules */
-	if (bdev->need_aligned_buffer) {
-		return bdev->blocklen;
-	}
-
-	return 1;
+	return 1 << bdev->required_alignment;
 }
 
 uint32_t
diff --git a/lib/bdev/crypto/vbdev_crypto.c b/lib/bdev/crypto/vbdev_crypto.c
index 95def6d38..ab97bef01 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/crypto/vbdev_crypto.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/crypto/vbdev_crypto.c
@@ -1444,7 +1444,7 @@ vbdev_crypto_claim(struct spdk_bdev *bdev)
 
 		vbdev->crypto_bdev.product_name = "crypto";
 		vbdev->crypto_bdev.write_cache = bdev->write_cache;
-		vbdev->crypto_bdev.need_aligned_buffer = bdev->need_aligned_buffer;
+		vbdev->crypto_bdev.required_alignment = bdev->required_alignment;
 		/* Note: CRYPTO_MAX_IO is in units of bytes, optimal_io_boundary is
 		 * in units of blocks.
 		 */
diff --git a/lib/bdev/lvol/vbdev_lvol.c b/lib/bdev/lvol/vbdev_lvol.c
index 74df81e4f..3a772e1f4 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/lvol/vbdev_lvol.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/lvol/vbdev_lvol.c
@@ -957,7 +957,7 @@ _create_lvol_disk(struct spdk_lvol *lvol, bool destroy)
 	assert((total_size % bdev->blocklen) == 0);
 	bdev->blockcnt = total_size / bdev->blocklen;
 	bdev->uuid = lvol->uuid;
-	bdev->need_aligned_buffer = lvs_bdev->bdev->need_aligned_buffer;
+	bdev->required_alignment = lvs_bdev->bdev->required_alignment;
 	bdev->split_on_optimal_io_boundary = true;
 	bdev->optimal_io_boundary = spdk_bs_get_cluster_size(lvol->lvol_store->blobstore) / bdev->blocklen;
 
diff --git a/lib/bdev/part.c b/lib/bdev/part.c
index 0cb4759b7..58cb1829b 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/part.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/part.c
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ spdk_bdev_part_construct(struct spdk_bdev_part *part, struct spdk_bdev_part_base
 	part->internal.offset_blocks = offset_blocks;
 
 	part->internal.bdev.write_cache = base->bdev->write_cache;
-	part->internal.bdev.need_aligned_buffer = base->bdev->need_aligned_buffer;
+	part->internal.bdev.required_alignment = base->bdev->required_alignment;
 	part->internal.bdev.ctxt = part;
 	part->internal.bdev.module = base->module;
 	part->internal.bdev.fn_table = base->fn_table;
diff --git a/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c b/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c
index 4e3dacfcd..898c1ea53 100644
--- a/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c
+++ b/lib/bdev/passthru/vbdev_passthru.c
@@ -550,7 +550,7 @@ vbdev_passthru_register(struct spdk_bdev *bdev)
 
 		/* Copy some properties from the underlying base bdev. */
 		pt_node->pt_bdev.write_cache = bdev->write_cache;
-		pt_node->pt_bdev.need_aligned_buffer = bdev->need_aligned_buffer;
+		pt_node->pt_bdev.required_alignment = bdev->required_alignment;
 		pt_node->pt_bdev.optimal_io_boundary = bdev->optimal_io_boundary;
 		pt_node->pt_bdev.blocklen = bdev->blocklen;
 		pt_node->pt_bdev.blockcnt = bdev->blockcnt;