diff --git a/fs/squashfs/block.c b/fs/squashfs/block.c
index 4e3e0863f5ea..b3b95e2ae2ff 100644
--- a/fs/squashfs/block.c
+++ b/fs/squashfs/block.c
@@ -121,11 +121,12 @@ static void squashfs_process_blocks(struct squashfs_read_request *req)
 
 	if (req->data_processing == SQUASHFS_METADATA) {
 		/* Extract the length of the metadata block */
-		if (req->offset != msblk->devblksize - 1)
-			length = *((u16 *)(bh[0]->b_data + req->offset));
-		else {
-			length = bh[0]->b_data[req->offset];
-			length |= bh[1]->b_data[0] << 8;
+		if (req->offset != msblk->devblksize - 1) {
+			length = le16_to_cpup((__le16 *)
+					(bh[0]->b_data + req->offset));
+		} else {
+			length = (unsigned char)bh[0]->b_data[req->offset];
+			length |= (unsigned char)bh[1]->b_data[0] << 8;
 		}
 		req->compressed = SQUASHFS_COMPRESSED(length);
 		req->data_processing = req->compressed ? SQUASHFS_DECOMPRESS