diff --git a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/alloc.c b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/alloc.c
index ed9b89c089..172f2eba96 100644
--- a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/alloc.c
+++ b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/alloc.c
@@ -244,7 +244,7 @@ ptr S_find_more_gc_room(thread_gc *tgc, ISPC s, IGEN g, iptr n, ptr old) {
 
   tgc->during_alloc += 1;
 
-  nsegs = (uptr)(n + ptr_bytes + bytes_per_segment - 1) >> segment_offset_bits;
+  nsegs = (uptr)(n + allocation_segment_tail_padding + bytes_per_segment - 1) >> segment_offset_bits;
 
  /* block requests to minimize fragmentation and improve cache locality */
   if (s == space_code && nsegs < 16) nsegs = 16;
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ ptr S_find_more_gc_room(thread_gc *tgc, ISPC s, IGEN g, iptr n, ptr old) {
 
   tgc->base_loc[g][s] = new;
   tgc->sweep_loc[g][s] = new;
-  tgc->bytes_left[g][s] = (new_bytes - n) - ptr_bytes;
+  tgc->bytes_left[g][s] = (new_bytes - n) - allocation_segment_tail_padding;
   tgc->next_loc[g][s] = (ptr)((uptr)new + n);
 
 #if defined(WRITE_XOR_EXECUTE_CODE)
diff --git a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/scheme.c b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/scheme.c
index d2c2d1c565..d9af390a6c 100644
--- a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/scheme.c
+++ b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/scheme.c
@@ -338,8 +338,15 @@ static void idiot_checks() {
     fprintf(stderr, "reference displacement does not match bytevector or flvector displacement\n");
     oops = 1;
   }
-  if (reference_disp >= (2 * ptr_bytes)) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "reference displacement is larger than two words\n");
+  
+  if (reference_disp >= (allocation_segment_tail_padding
+                         /* to determine the minimum distince from the start of an
+                            alocated object to the end of its alloted space, take the
+                            smaller of the allocation alignment or sizeof(double), where
+                            the latter is relevant for a flonum that points into the
+                            imaginary half of an inexactnum */
+                         + ((byte_alignment < sizeof(double)) ? byte_alignment : sizeof(double)))) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "reference displacement can extend past the end of an allocation page\n");
     oops = 1;
   }
 
diff --git a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.c b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.c
index 39faab489f..5f4608dbd5 100644
--- a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.c
+++ b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.c
@@ -666,7 +666,8 @@ static void enable_code_write(ptr tc, IGEN maxg, IBOOL on, IBOOL current, void *
     if (addr == NULL) {
       return;
     }
-    bytes = (char*)tgc->next_loc[0][space_code] - (char*)tgc->base_loc[0][space_code] + tgc->bytes_left[0][space_code] + ptr_bytes;
+    bytes = ((char*)tgc->next_loc[0][space_code] - (char*)tgc->base_loc[0][space_code]
+             + tgc->bytes_left[0][space_code] + allocation_segment_tail_padding);
     if (mprotect(addr, bytes, flags) != 0) {
       S_error_abort("failed to protect current allocation segments");
     }
diff --git a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.h b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.h
index ce2a5e085a..5dbd3a4833 100644
--- a/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.h
+++ b/racket/src/ChezScheme/c/segment.h
@@ -112,8 +112,12 @@ FORCEINLINE ptr S_reference_to_object(ptr p) {
     return ((ptr)((uptr)(p) - reference_disp));
 }
 
-/* We take advantage of the fact `reference_disp` is less than two
-   words and that every allocation region has a one-word padding, so
+/* An allocation region needs room at the end of a formarding pointer
+   as a terminator */
+#define allocation_segment_tail_padding ptr_bytes
+
+/* We take advantage of the fact `reference_disp` is less than the
+   minimum allocation size plus `allocation_segment_tail_padding`, so
    there's no possibility that the referece address for an object will
    be off of its GC-managed page (even for a pair or an bytevector
    with an empty payload). */