diff --git a/lib/std/elf.zig b/lib/std/elf.zig
index fc9446f2b32335d7c3ed64dafd045e9d920d71c3..2db34ed943ed4aa38ccc4346f00ff7b2f26d59a1 100644
--- a/lib/std/elf.zig
+++ b/lib/std/elf.zig
@@ -1043,7 +1043,7 @@ pub const Elf32 = struct {
     pub const Addr = u32;
     pub const Off = u32;
     pub const Ehdr = extern struct {
-        ident: [EI.NIDENT]u8,
+        ident: Ident,
         type: ET,
         machine: EM,
         version: Word,
@@ -1133,7 +1133,7 @@ pub const Elf64 = struct {
     pub const Addr = u64;
     pub const Off = u64;
     pub const Ehdr = extern struct {
-        ident: [EI.NIDENT]u8,
+        ident: Ident,
         type: ET,
         machine: EM,
         version: Word,
@@ -1611,6 +1611,20 @@ pub const Sym = switch (@sizeOf(usize)) {
 /// Deprecated, use `std.elf.ElfN.Addr`
 pub const Addr = ElfN.Addr;
 
+pub const Ident = extern struct {
+    magic: [MAGIC.len]u8 = MAGIC.*,
+    class: CLASS,
+    data: DATA,
+    version: u8,
+    osabi: OSABI,
+    abiversion: u8,
+    pad: [7]u8 = @splat(0),
+
+    comptime {
+        assert(@sizeOf(Ident) == EI.NIDENT);
+    }
+};
+
 /// Deprecated, use `@intFromEnum(std.elf.CLASS.NONE)`
 pub const ELFCLASSNONE = @intFromEnum(CLASS.NONE);
 /// Deprecated, use `@intFromEnum(std.elf.CLASS.@"32")`
diff --git a/lib/std/posix.zig b/lib/std/posix.zig
index 453dcced31f3c835333212f094574e77f7a59a10..1f4288ea99651e3ccf8a22e03c1abf33c140dbeb 100644
--- a/lib/std/posix.zig
+++ b/lib/std/posix.zig
@@ -834,7 +834,7 @@ pub fn dl_iterate_phdr(
     while (it.next()) |entry| {
         const phdrs: []elf.ElfN.Phdr = if (entry.addr != 0) phdrs: {
             const ehdr: *elf.ElfN.Ehdr = @ptrFromInt(entry.addr);
-            assert(mem.eql(u8, ehdr.ident[0..4], elf.MAGIC));
+            assert(mem.eql(u8, &ehdr.ident.magic, elf.MAGIC));
             const phdrs: [*]elf.ElfN.Phdr = @ptrFromInt(entry.addr + ehdr.phoff);
             break :phdrs phdrs[0..ehdr.phnum];
         } else getSelfPhdrs();
diff --git a/src/link/Elf2.zig b/src/link/Elf2.zig
index 164401c90f450842100c2055d87ea6dd1d577187..4a07c7a0546b22a68595c45f7044a1f9597885d7 100644
--- a/src/link/Elf2.zig
+++ b/src/link/Elf2.zig
@@ -1150,14 +1150,13 @@ fn initHeaders(
             elf.nodes.appendAssumeCapacity(.ehdr);
 
             const ehdr: *ElfN.Ehdr = @ptrCast(@alignCast(elf.ni.ehdr.slice(&elf.mf)));
-            const EI = std.elf.EI;
-            @memcpy(ehdr.ident[0..std.elf.MAGIC.len], std.elf.MAGIC);
-            ehdr.ident[EI.CLASS] = @intFromEnum(class);
-            ehdr.ident[EI.DATA] = @intFromEnum(data);
-            ehdr.ident[EI.VERSION] = 1;
-            ehdr.ident[EI.OSABI] = @intFromEnum(osabi);
-            ehdr.ident[EI.ABIVERSION] = 0;
-            @memset(ehdr.ident[EI.PAD..], 0);
+            ehdr.ident = .{
+                .class = class,
+                .data = data,
+                .version = 1,
+                .osabi = osabi,
+                .abiversion = 0,
+            };
             ehdr.type = @"type";
             ehdr.machine = machine;
             ehdr.version = 1;