diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index cb15d60..5cb4130 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ jobs:
     needs: rust-version
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
       matrix:
         rust-version:
           - ${{ needs.rust-version.outputs.version }}
diff --git a/examples/async.rs b/examples/async.rs
index 43ce3db..f46f20e 100644
--- a/examples/async.rs
+++ b/examples/async.rs
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_async_commands_set_enable(
         }
     };
 
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 fn ngx_http_async_runtime() -> &'static Runtime {
diff --git a/examples/awssig.rs b/examples/awssig.rs
index 384f98d..7a93e10 100644
--- a/examples/awssig.rs
+++ b/examples/awssig.rs
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_enable(
         }
     };
 
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_access_key(
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_access_key(
         conf.access_key = (*args.add(1)).to_string();
     };
 
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_secret_key(
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_secret_key(
         conf.secret_key = (*args.add(1)).to_string();
     };
 
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_s3_bucket(
@@ -230,10 +230,11 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_s3_bucket(
         conf.s3_bucket = (*args.add(1)).to_string();
         if conf.s3_bucket.len() == 1 {
             println!("Validation failed");
-            return ngx::core::NGX_CONF_ERROR as _;
+            return ngx::core::NGX_CONF_ERROR;
         }
     };
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_s3_endpoint(
@@ -247,7 +248,7 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_awssigv4_commands_set_s3_endpoint(
         conf.s3_endpoint = (*args.add(1)).to_string();
     };
 
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 http_request_handler!(awssigv4_header_handler, |request: &mut Request| {
diff --git a/examples/curl.rs b/examples/curl.rs
index c8d9d2c..da7c9da 100644
--- a/examples/curl.rs
+++ b/examples/curl.rs
@@ -131,5 +131,5 @@ extern "C" fn ngx_http_curl_commands_set_enable(
         }
     };
 
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
diff --git a/examples/upstream.rs b/examples/upstream.rs
index b928672..7517ece 100644
--- a/examples/upstream.rs
+++ b/examples/upstream.rs
@@ -282,7 +282,7 @@ unsafe extern "C" fn ngx_http_upstream_commands_set_custom(
                 value[1],
                 &(*cmd).name
             );
-            return usize::MAX as *mut c_char;
+            return ngx::core::NGX_CONF_ERROR;
         }
         ccf.max = n as u32;
     }
@@ -298,8 +298,8 @@ unsafe extern "C" fn ngx_http_upstream_commands_set_custom(
     uscf.peer.init_upstream = Some(ngx_http_upstream_init_custom);
 
     ngx_log_debug_mask!(DebugMask::Http, cf.log, "CUSTOM UPSTREAM end module init");
-    // NGX_CONF_OK
-    std::ptr::null_mut()
+
+    ngx::core::NGX_CONF_OK
 }
 
 // The upstream module.
diff --git a/nginx-sys/build/main.rs b/nginx-sys/build/main.rs
index 22208dd..f2dc1af 100644
--- a/nginx-sys/build/main.rs
+++ b/nginx-sys/build/main.rs
@@ -216,6 +216,8 @@ fn generate_binding(nginx: &NginxSource) {
         // Bindings will not compile on Linux without block listing this item
         // It is worth investigating why this is
         .blocklist_item("IPPORT_RESERVED")
+        // will be restored later in build.rs
+        .blocklist_item("NGX_ALIGNMENT")
         .generate_cstr(true)
         // The input header we would like to generate bindings for.
         .header("build/wrapper.h")
@@ -339,22 +341,19 @@ pub fn print_cargo_metadata<T: AsRef<Path>>(includes: &[T]) -> Result<(), Box<dy
 
     // A quoted list of all recognized features to be passed to rustc-check-cfg.
     let values = NGX_CONF_FEATURES.join("\",\"");
-    println!("cargo::metadata=features_check=\"{}\"", values);
-    println!(
-        "cargo::rustc-check-cfg=cfg(ngx_feature, values(\"{}\"))",
-        values
-    );
+    println!("cargo::metadata=features_check=\"{values}\"");
+    println!("cargo::rustc-check-cfg=cfg(ngx_feature, values(\"{values}\"))");
 
     // A list of features enabled in the nginx build we're using
     println!("cargo::metadata=features={}", ngx_features.join(","));
     for feature in ngx_features {
-        println!("cargo::rustc-cfg=ngx_feature=\"{}\"", feature);
+        println!("cargo::rustc-cfg=ngx_feature=\"{feature}\"");
     }
 
     // A quoted list of all recognized operating systems to be passed to rustc-check-cfg.
     let values = NGX_CONF_OS.join("\",\"");
-    println!("cargo::metadata=os_check=\"{}\"", values);
-    println!("cargo::rustc-check-cfg=cfg(ngx_os, values(\"{}\"))", values);
+    println!("cargo::metadata=os_check=\"{values}\"");
+    println!("cargo::rustc-check-cfg=cfg(ngx_os, values(\"{values}\"))");
     // Current detected operating system
     println!("cargo::metadata=os={ngx_os}");
     println!("cargo::rustc-cfg=ngx_os=\"{ngx_os}\"");
diff --git a/nginx-sys/build/wrapper.h b/nginx-sys/build/wrapper.h
index c333744..552a793 100644
--- a/nginx-sys/build/wrapper.h
+++ b/nginx-sys/build/wrapper.h
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
 
 const char *NGX_RS_MODULE_SIGNATURE = NGX_MODULE_SIGNATURE;
 
+// NGX_ALIGNMENT could be defined as a constant or an expression, with the
+// latter being unsupported by bindgen.
+const size_t NGX_RS_ALIGNMENT = NGX_ALIGNMENT;
+
 // `--prefix=` results in not emitting the declaration
 #ifndef NGX_PREFIX
 #define NGX_PREFIX ""
diff --git a/nginx-sys/src/lib.rs b/nginx-sys/src/lib.rs
index 83a458c..ffb7edd 100644
--- a/nginx-sys/src/lib.rs
+++ b/nginx-sys/src/lib.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,14 @@ pub use queue::*;
 #[cfg(ngx_feature = "stream")]
 pub use stream::*;
 
+/// Default alignment for pool allocations.
+pub const NGX_ALIGNMENT: usize = NGX_RS_ALIGNMENT;
+
+// Check if the allocations made with ngx_palloc are properly aligned.
+// If the check fails, objects allocated from `ngx_pool` can violate Rust pointer alignment
+// requirements.
+const _: () = assert!(core::mem::align_of::<ngx_str_t>() <= NGX_ALIGNMENT);
+
 impl ngx_command_t {
     /// Creates a new empty [`ngx_command_t`] instance.
     ///
diff --git a/src/core/status.rs b/src/core/status.rs
index 46bb79f..4cab884 100644
--- a/src/core/status.rs
+++ b/src/core/status.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
+use core::ffi::c_char;
 use core::fmt;
+use core::ptr;
 
 use crate::ffi::*;
 
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@ ngx_codes! {
     (NGX_ABORT);
 }
 
-/// NGX_CONF_ERROR - An error occurred while parsing and validating configuration.
-pub const NGX_CONF_ERROR: *const () = -1isize as *const ();
-// pub const CONF_OK: Status = Status(NGX_CONF_OK as ngx_int_t);
+/// An error occurred while parsing and validating configuration.
+pub const NGX_CONF_ERROR: *mut c_char = ptr::null_mut::<c_char>().wrapping_offset(-1);
+/// Configuration handler succeeded.
+pub const NGX_CONF_OK: *mut c_char = ptr::null_mut();
diff --git a/src/core/string.rs b/src/core/string.rs
index a456ac6..1db73f8 100644
--- a/src/core/string.rs
+++ b/src/core/string.rs
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ impl NgxStr {
     ///
     /// See [`String::from_utf8_lossy`].
     #[cfg(feature = "alloc")]
-    pub fn to_string_lossy(&self) -> Cow<str> {
+    pub fn to_string_lossy(&self) -> Cow<'_, str> {
         String::from_utf8_lossy(self.as_bytes())
     }
 
diff --git a/src/http/request.rs b/src/http/request.rs
index c3a2155..d17d294 100644
--- a/src/http/request.rs
+++ b/src/http/request.rs
@@ -375,13 +375,13 @@ impl Request {
 
     /// Iterate over headers_in
     /// each header item is (&str, &str) (borrowed)
-    pub fn headers_in_iterator(&self) -> NgxListIterator {
+    pub fn headers_in_iterator(&self) -> NgxListIterator<'_> {
         unsafe { list_iterator(&self.0.headers_in.headers) }
     }
 
     /// Iterate over headers_out
     /// each header item is (&str, &str) (borrowed)
-    pub fn headers_out_iterator(&self) -> NgxListIterator {
+    pub fn headers_out_iterator(&self) -> NgxListIterator<'_> {
         unsafe { list_iterator(&self.0.headers_out.headers) }
     }
 }
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@ impl<'a> From<&'a ngx_list_part_t> for ListPart<'a> {
 /// # Safety
 ///
 /// The caller has provided a valid [`ngx_str_t`] which can be dereferenced validly.
-pub unsafe fn list_iterator(list: &ngx_list_t) -> NgxListIterator {
+pub unsafe fn list_iterator(list: &ngx_list_t) -> NgxListIterator<'_> {
     NgxListIterator {
         part: Some((&list.part).into()),
         i: 0,