diff --git a/zeroize/CHANGELOG.md b/zeroize/CHANGELOG.md
index 51e3b421..d87bf0c0 100644
--- a/zeroize/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/zeroize/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 ## 1.9.1 (UNRELEASED)
 ### Fixed
 - False positive failures in proxy allocator test ([#1538])
+- Potential uninitialized memory read in fallback code used by `optimization_barrier` ([#1551])
 
 [#1538]: https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/pull/1538
+[#1551]: https://github.com/RustCrypto/utils/pull/1551
 
 ## 1.9.0 (2026-06-12)
 ### Added
diff --git a/zeroize/src/barrier.rs b/zeroize/src/barrier.rs
index d61abc5a..d6a5004c 100644
--- a/zeroize/src/barrier.rs
+++ b/zeroize/src/barrier.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,9 @@ pub fn optimization_barrier<T: ?Sized>(val: &T) {
         /// `#[inline(never)]` and `read_volatile`.
         #[inline(never)]
         fn custom_black_box(p: *const u8) {
-            let _ = unsafe { core::ptr::read_volatile(p) };
+            use core::mem::MaybeUninit;
+
+            let _: MaybeUninit<u8> = unsafe { core::ptr::read_volatile(p.cast()) };
         }
 
         core::hint::black_box(val);