diff --git a/include/zephyr/device.h b/include/zephyr/device.h
index 24c4f88c16ebc4..6452a9baf247fe 100644
--- a/include/zephyr/device.h
+++ b/include/zephyr/device.h
@@ -62,13 +62,6 @@ extern "C" {
  */
 typedef int16_t device_handle_t;
 
-/*
- * The build assert will fail if device_handle_t changes size, which
- * means the alignment directives in the linker scripts and in
- * `gen_handles.py` must be updated.
- */
-BUILD_ASSERT(sizeof(device_handle_t) == 2, "fix the linker scripts");
-
 /** @brief Flag value used in lists of device handles to separate
  * distinct groups.
  *
diff --git a/scripts/build/gen_handles.py b/scripts/build/gen_handles.py
index 4f675cca1d9f21..511a03fc4eaa8d 100755
--- a/scripts/build/gen_handles.py
+++ b/scripts/build/gen_handles.py
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def c_handle_array(dev, handles, extra_support_handles=0):
         'DEVICE_HANDLE_ENDS',
     ]
     return [
-        'const device_handle_t __aligned(2) __attribute__((__section__(".__device_handles_pass2")))',
+        'const Z_DECL_ALIGN(device_handle_t) __attribute__((__section__(".__device_handles_pass2")))',
         '{:s}[] = {{ {:s} }};'.format(dev.ordinals.sym.name, ', '.join(handles)),
     ]