diff --git a/src/subclass/object.rs b/src/subclass/object.rs
index 909dc30e..e30f6eaa 100644
--- a/src/subclass/object.rs
+++ b/src/subclass/object.rs
@@ -564,6 +564,17 @@ mod test {
         assert!(weak.upgrade().is_none());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_create_child_object() {
+        let type_ = ChildObject::get_type();
+        let obj = Object::new(type_, &[]).unwrap();
+
+        // ChildObject is a zero-sized type and we map that to the same pointer as the object
+        // itself. No private/impl data is allocated for zero-sized types.
+        let imp = ChildObject::from_instance(&obj);
+        assert_eq!(imp as *const _ as *const (), obj.as_ptr() as *const _);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_set_properties() {
         let obj = Object::new(SimpleObject::get_type(), &[]).unwrap();
diff --git a/src/subclass/types.rs b/src/subclass/types.rs
index adfb096b..2f239d64 100644
--- a/src/subclass/types.rs
+++ b/src/subclass/types.rs
@@ -72,9 +72,9 @@ pub unsafe trait InstanceStruct: Sized + 'static {
             let private_offset = data.as_ref().private_offset;
             let ptr: *const u8 = self as *const _ as *const u8;
             let priv_ptr = ptr.offset(private_offset);
-            let imp = priv_ptr as *const Option<Self::Type>;
+            let imp = priv_ptr as *const Self::Type;
 
-            (*imp).as_ref().expect("No private struct")
+            &*imp
         }
     }
 
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ unsafe extern "C" fn class_init<T: ObjectSubclass>(
 
     // We have to update the private struct offset once the class is actually
     // being initialized.
-    {
+    if mem::size_of::<T>() != 0 {
         let mut private_offset = data.as_ref().private_offset as i32;
         gobject_sys::g_type_class_adjust_private_offset(klass, &mut private_offset);
         (*data.as_mut()).private_offset = private_offset as isize;
@@ -417,26 +417,23 @@ unsafe extern "C" fn instance_init<T: ObjectSubclass>(
     let private_offset = (*data.as_mut()).private_offset;
     let ptr: *mut u8 = obj as *mut _ as *mut u8;
     let priv_ptr = ptr.offset(private_offset);
-    let imp_storage = priv_ptr as *mut Option<T>;
+    let imp_storage = priv_ptr as *mut T;
 
     let klass = &*(klass as *const T::Class);
 
     let imp = T::new_with_class(klass);
 
-    ptr::write(imp_storage, Some(imp));
+    ptr::write(imp_storage, imp);
 }
 
 unsafe extern "C" fn finalize<T: ObjectSubclass>(obj: *mut gobject_sys::GObject) {
-    // Retrieve the private struct, take it out of its storage and
-    // drop it for freeing all associated memory.
+    // Retrieve the private struct and drop it for freeing all associated memory.
     let mut data = T::type_data();
     let private_offset = (*data.as_mut()).private_offset;
     let ptr: *mut u8 = obj as *mut _ as *mut u8;
     let priv_ptr = ptr.offset(private_offset);
-    let imp_storage = priv_ptr as *mut Option<T>;
-
-    let imp = (*imp_storage).take().expect("No private struct");
-    drop(imp);
+    let imp_storage = priv_ptr as *mut T;
+    ptr::drop_in_place(imp_storage);
 
     // Chain up to the parent class' finalize implementation, if any.
     let parent_class = &*(data.as_ref().get_parent_class() as *const gobject_sys::GObjectClass);
@@ -457,6 +454,16 @@ pub fn register_type<T: ObjectSubclass>() -> Type
 where
     <<T as ObjectSubclass>::ParentType as ObjectType>::RustClassType: IsSubclassable<T>,
 {
+    // GLib aligns the type private data to two gsizes so we can't safely store any type there that
+    // requires a bigger alignment.
+    if mem::align_of::<T>() > 2 * mem::size_of::<usize>() {
+        panic!(
+            "Alignment {} of type not supported, bigger than {}",
+            mem::align_of::<T>(),
+            2 * mem::size_of::<usize>(),
+        );
+    }
+
     unsafe {
         use std::ffi::CString;
 
@@ -494,8 +501,12 @@ where
 
         let mut data = T::type_data();
         (*data.as_mut()).type_ = type_;
-        let private_offset =
-            gobject_sys::g_type_add_instance_private(type_.to_glib(), mem::size_of::<Option<T>>());
+
+        let private_offset = if mem::size_of::<T>() == 0 {
+            0
+        } else {
+            gobject_sys::g_type_add_instance_private(type_.to_glib(), mem::size_of::<T>())
+        };
         (*data.as_mut()).private_offset = private_offset as isize;
 
         T::type_init(&mut InitializingType::<T>(type_, marker::PhantomData));