diff -ru icu.orig/source/common/putil.c icu/source/common/putil.c
--- icu.orig/source/common/putil.c	2008-08-26 13:12:58.000000000 +0100
+++ icu/source/common/putil.c	2008-08-26 13:13:01.000000000 +0100
@@ -160,30 +160,46 @@
 #   define U_POSIX_LOCALE    1
 #endif
 
-/*
-    WARNING! u_topNBytesOfDouble and u_bottomNBytesOfDouble
-    can't be properly optimized by the gcc compiler sometimes (i.e. gcc 3.2).
-*/
 #if !IEEE_754
-static char*
-u_topNBytesOfDouble(double* d, int n)
+static uint32_t
+u_topOfDoubleAsUint32(double d)
 {
-#if U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN
-    return (char*)d;
-#else
-    return (char*)(d + 1) - n;
-#endif
+    union 
+    {
+        double d;
+        uint32_t i[2];
+    } u;
+
+    u.d = d;
+    return u.i
+    [
+#  if U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN
+      0
+#  else
+      1
+#  endif
+    ];
 }
 #endif
 
-static char*
-u_bottomNBytesOfDouble(double* d, int n)
+static uint32_t
+u_bottomOfDoubleAsUint32(double d)
 {
-#if U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN
-    return (char*)(d + 1) - n;
-#else
-    return (char*)d;
-#endif
+    union 
+    {
+        double d;
+        uint32_t i[2];
+    } u;
+
+    u.d = d;
+    return u.i
+    [
+#  if U_IS_BIG_ENDIAN
+      1
+#  else
+      0
+#  endif
+    ];
 }
 
 #if defined (U_DEBUG_FAKETIME)
@@ -297,10 +313,8 @@
     return (UBool)((convertedNumber.i64 & U_INT64_MAX) > gInf.i64);
 
 #elif defined(OS390)
-    uint32_t highBits = *(uint32_t*)u_topNBytesOfDouble(&number,
-                        sizeof(uint32_t));
-    uint32_t lowBits  = *(uint32_t*)u_bottomNBytesOfDouble(&number,
-                        sizeof(uint32_t));
+    uint32_t highBits = u_topOfDoubleAsUint32(number);
+    uint32_t lowBits  = u_bottomOfDoubleAsUint32(number);
 
     return ((highBits & 0x7F080000L) == 0x7F080000L) &&
       (lowBits == 0x00000000L);
@@ -322,10 +336,8 @@
     /* Infinity is exactly 0x7FF0000000000000U. */
     return (UBool)((convertedNumber.i64 & U_INT64_MAX) == gInf.i64);
 #elif defined(OS390)
-    uint32_t highBits = *(uint32_t*)u_topNBytesOfDouble(&number,
-                        sizeof(uint32_t));
-    uint32_t lowBits  = *(uint32_t*)u_bottomNBytesOfDouble(&number,
-                        sizeof(uint32_t));
+    uint32_t highBits = u_topOfDoubleAsUint32(number);
+    uint32_t lowBits  = u_bottomOfDoubleAsUint32(number);
 
     return ((highBits  & ~SIGN) == 0x70FF0000L) && (lowBits == 0x00000000L);
 
@@ -354,8 +366,7 @@
     return (UBool)(number < 0 && uprv_isInfinite(number));
 
 #else
-    uint32_t highBits = *(uint32_t*)u_topNBytesOfDouble(&number,
-                        sizeof(uint32_t));
+    uint32_t highBits = u_topOfDoubleAsUint32(number);
     return((highBits & SIGN) && uprv_isInfinite(number));
 
 #endif
@@ -447,7 +458,7 @@
         return uprv_getNaN();
 
     /* check for -0 and 0*/
-    lowBits = *(uint32_t*) u_bottomNBytesOfDouble(&x, sizeof(uint32_t));
+    lowBits = u_bottomOfDoubleAsUint32(x);
     if(x == 0.0 && y == 0.0 && (lowBits & SIGN))
         return y;
 
@@ -468,7 +479,7 @@
         return uprv_getNaN();
 
     /* check for -0 and 0*/
-    lowBits = *(uint32_t*) u_bottomNBytesOfDouble(&y, sizeof(uint32_t));
+    lowBits = u_bottomOfDoubleAsUint32(y);
     if(x == 0.0 && y == 0.0 && (lowBits & SIGN))
         return y;
 
@@ -497,7 +508,7 @@
     if(uprv_isInfinite(d))
         return uprv_getInfinity();
 
-    lowBits = *(uint32_t*) u_bottomNBytesOfDouble(&d, sizeof(uint32_t));
+    lowBits = u_bottomOfDoubleAsUint32(d);
     if( (d == 0.0 && (lowBits & SIGN)) || d < 0)
         return ceil(d);
     else
Only in icu/source/common: putil.c.orig