diff --git a/gtsam/nonlinear/internal/ExecutionTrace.h b/gtsam/nonlinear/internal/ExecutionTrace.h
index ccba89dda..d65c99880 100644
--- a/gtsam/nonlinear/internal/ExecutionTrace.h
+++ b/gtsam/nonlinear/internal/ExecutionTrace.h
@@ -18,11 +18,6 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-// The MSVC compiler insists on knowing extended alignment is ok.
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-#define _ENABLE_EXTENDED_ALIGNED_STORAGE
-#endif
-
 #include <gtsam/config.h>      // Configuration from CMake
 #include <gtsam/nonlinear/internal/JacobianMap.h>
 #include <gtsam/inference/Key.h>
@@ -42,7 +37,7 @@ template<int T> struct CallRecord;
 /// Storage type for the execution trace.
 /// It enforces the proper alignment in a portable way.
 /// Provide a traceSize() sized array of this type to traceExecution as traceStorage.
-static const unsigned TraceAlignment = 32;
+static const unsigned TraceAlignment = 16; // 16 bytes is the default alignment used by Eigen.
 typedef std::aligned_storage<1, TraceAlignment>::type ExecutionTraceStorage;
 
 template<bool UseBlock, typename Derived>