diff --git a/pvDataApp/misc/byteBuffer.h b/pvDataApp/misc/byteBuffer.h
index 888a474..6ab8b32 100644
--- a/pvDataApp/misc/byteBuffer.h
+++ b/pvDataApp/misc/byteBuffer.h
@@ -131,17 +131,25 @@ inline int64 swap(int64 val)
 template<>
 inline float swap(float val)
 {
-    int32* pval = (int32*)&val;
-     *pval = swap32(*pval);
-    return val;
+    union {
+        int32 i;
+        float f;
+    } conv;
+    conv.f = val;
+    conv.i = swap32(conv.i);
+    return conv.f;
 }
 
 template<>
 inline double swap(double val)
 {
-    int64* pval = (int64*)&val;
-     *pval = swap64(*pval);
-    return val;
+    union {
+        int64 i;
+        double d;
+    } conv;
+    conv.d = val;
+    conv.i = swap64(conv.i);
+    return conv.d;
 }
 
 #define is_aligned(POINTER, BYTE_COUNT) \
diff --git a/testApp/misc/Makefile b/testApp/misc/Makefile
index 50f1509..43003e6 100644
--- a/testApp/misc/Makefile
+++ b/testApp/misc/Makefile
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ PROD_HOST += testBitSet
 testBitSet_SRCS += testBitSet.cpp
 testBitSet_LIBS += pvData Com
 
+PROD_HOST += testByteOrder
+testByteOrder_SRCS += testByteOrder.cpp
+testByteOrder_LIBS += Com
+
 PROD_HOST += testByteBuffer
 testByteBuffer_SRCS += testByteBuffer.cpp
 testByteBuffer_LIBS += pvData Com
diff --git a/testApp/misc/testByteOrder.cpp b/testApp/misc/testByteOrder.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..123bfc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testApp/misc/testByteOrder.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#include <epicsEndian.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
+int main()
+{
+printf("EPICS_BYTE_ORDER: %s\n", (EPICS_BYTE_ORDER == EPICS_ENDIAN_LITTLE) ? "little" : "big");
+printf("EPICS_FLOAT_WORD_ORDER: %s\n", (EPICS_FLOAT_WORD_ORDER == EPICS_ENDIAN_LITTLE) ? "little" : "big");
+return 0;
+}
+