It seems that -fstring-aliasing option doesn't work: $ cat test.c
#include <stdlib.h> int main (void) { int a = 0x12345678; short *b = (short *) &a; b[1] = 0; if (a == 0x12345678) abort(); exit(0); } $ gcc -fstrict-aliasing test.c $ ./a.out $ gcc -O2 test.c $ ./a.out Aborted There are no any warnings with -Wstrict-analising=3 for the testcase above: $ gcc -Wstrict-aliasing=3 test.c $ These options are tested for: gcc -v Using built-in specs. Target: x86_64-redhat-linux Configured with: ../configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info --with-bugurl=http://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla --enable-bootstrap --enable-shared --enable-threads=posix --enable-checking=release --with-system-zlib --enable-__cxa_atexit --disable-libunwind-exceptions --enable-languages=c,c++,objc,obj-c++,java,fortran,ada --enable-java-awt=gtk --disable-dssi --enable-plugin --with-java-home=/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-gcj-1.5.0.0/jre --enable-libgcj-multifile --enable-java-maintainer-mode --with-ecj-jar=/usr/share/java/eclipse-ecj.jar --disable-libjava-multilib --with-cpu=generic --build=x86_64-redhat-linux Thread model: posix gcc version 4.3.2 20081105 (Red Hat 4.3.2-7) (GCC) gcc34 -v Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-redhat-linux/3.4.6/specs Configured with: ../configure --prefix=/usr --mandir=/usr/share/man --infodir=/usr/share/info --enable-shared --enable-threads=posix --disable-checking --with-system-zlib --enable-__cxa_atexit --disable-libunwind-exceptions --enable-languages=c,c++,f77 --disable-libgcj --host=x86_64-redhat-linux Thread model: posix gcc version 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-9) -- Summary: -fstrict-aliasing and -Wstrict-aliasing do not work Product: gcc Version: unknown Status: UNCONFIRMED Severity: normal Priority: P3 Component: c AssignedTo: unassigned at gcc dot gnu dot org ReportedBy: anvoebugz at gmail dot com GCC build triplet: x86_64-redhat-linux GCC host triplet: x86_64 GCC target triplet: x86_64 http://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=38537