diff --git a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py
index 0a50912ff0ea8c..4d7a3cbff5567d 100644
--- a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
     "BrokenIter",
     "in_systemd_nspawn_sync_suppressed",
     "run_no_yield_async_fn", "run_yielding_async_fn", "async_yield",
-    "reset_code", "on_github_actions"
+    "reset_code", "on_github_actions", "ctypes_py_buffer",
     ]
 
 
@@ -3184,3 +3184,47 @@ def linked_to_musl():
         return _linked_to_musl
     _linked_to_musl = tuple(map(int, version.split('.')))
     return _linked_to_musl
+
+
+try:
+    import ctypes
+
+    class _py_buffer(ctypes.Structure):
+        _fields_ = [
+            ("buf", ctypes.c_void_p),
+            ("obj", ctypes.py_object),
+            ("len", ctypes.c_ssize_t),
+            ("itemsize", ctypes.c_ssize_t),
+            ("readonly", ctypes.c_int),
+            ("ndim", ctypes.c_int),
+            ("format", ctypes.c_char_p),
+            ("shape", ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_ssize_t)),
+            ("strides", ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_ssize_t)),
+            ("suboffsets", ctypes.POINTER(ctypes.c_ssize_t)),
+            ("internal", ctypes.c_void_p),
+        ]
+except ImportError:
+    _py_buffer = None
+
+
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def ctypes_py_buffer(ob, flags=inspect.BufferFlags.SIMPLE):
+    """
+    Safely acquire a `Py_buffer` as a ctypes struct.
+
+    `ob` must implement the buffer protocol, and the retrieved buffer is
+    released on exit of the context manager.
+
+    Skips any test using it if `ctypes` is unavailable.
+    """
+    from .import_helper import import_module
+
+    ctypes = import_module("ctypes")
+    buf = _py_buffer()
+    ctypes.pythonapi.PyObject_GetBuffer(ctypes.py_object(ob),
+                                        ctypes.byref(buf),
+                                        ctypes.c_int(flags))
+    try:
+        yield buf
+    finally:
+        ctypes.pythonapi.PyBuffer_Release(ctypes.byref(buf))
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_array.py b/Lib/test/test_array.py
index 83b3c978da3581..420186fb8bf1b3 100755
--- a/Lib/test/test_array.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_array.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from test.support import import_helper
 from test.support import os_helper
 from test.support import _2G
+from test.support import ctypes_py_buffer
 import weakref
 import pickle
 import operator
@@ -67,6 +68,21 @@ def test_empty(self):
         a += a
         self.assertEqual(len(a), 0)
 
+    def test_empty_alignment(self):
+        # gh-140557: pointer alignment of empty allocation
+        ctypes = import_helper.import_module("ctypes")
+        self.enterContext(warnings.catch_warnings())
+        warnings.filterwarnings(
+            "ignore",
+            message="The 'u' type code is deprecated and "
+                    "will be removed in Python 3.16",
+            category=DeprecationWarning)
+        max_align = ctypes.alignment(ctypes.c_longdouble)
+        for typecode in typecodes:
+            a = array.array(typecode)
+            with ctypes_py_buffer(a) as buf:
+                self.assertEqual(buf.buf % max_align, 0)
+
 
 # Machine format codes.
 #
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
index fe3e391a7f5ba1..e585a5852175bd 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_builtin.py
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 from test.support.testcase import ComplexesAreIdenticalMixin
 from test.support.warnings_helper import check_warnings
 from test.support import requires_IEEE_754
+from test.support import ctypes_py_buffer
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 try:
     import pty, signal
@@ -2404,6 +2405,14 @@ def iterator():
             yield b'B'
         self.assertEqual(bytearray(b'A,B'), array.join(iterator()))
 
+    def test_bytearray_empty_alignment(self):
+        # gh-140557: alignment of pointer in empty allocation
+        ctypes = import_module("ctypes")
+        max_align = ctypes.alignment(ctypes.c_longdouble)
+        array = bytearray()
+        with ctypes_py_buffer(array) as buf:
+            self.assertEqual(buf.buf % max_align, 0)
+
     def test_construct_singletons(self):
         for const in None, Ellipsis, NotImplemented:
             tp = type(const)
diff --git a/Misc/ACKS b/Misc/ACKS
index f5f15f2eb7ea24..5bfbc38587b58e 100644
--- a/Misc/ACKS
+++ b/Misc/ACKS
@@ -1148,6 +1148,7 @@ Per Lindqvist
 Eric Lindvall
 Gregor Lingl
 Everett Lipman
+Jake Lishman
 Mirko Liss
 Alexander Liu
 Hui Liu
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-10-24-17-30-51.gh-issue-140557.X2GETk.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-10-24-17-30-51.gh-issue-140557.X2GETk.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..cceebc7ae49513
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2025-10-24-17-30-51.gh-issue-140557.X2GETk.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+:func:`bytearray` and :func:`array.array` now default to aligned buffers when
+empty.  Unaligned buffers can still be created by slicing.
diff --git a/Modules/arraymodule.c b/Modules/arraymodule.c
index 729e085c19f006..1129314067e15e 100644
--- a/Modules/arraymodule.c
+++ b/Modules/arraymodule.c
@@ -2655,7 +2655,7 @@ array_ass_subscr(PyObject *op, PyObject *item, PyObject *value)
     }
 }
 
-static const void *emptybuf = "";
+static const _Py_ALIGNED_DEF(ALIGNOF_MAX_ALIGN_T, char) emptybuf[] = "";
 
 
 static int
diff --git a/Objects/bytearrayobject.c b/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
index a73bfff340ce48..af01393a763ac2 100644
--- a/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
+++ b/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class bytearray "PyByteArrayObject *" "&PyByteArray_Type"
 /*[clinic end generated code: output=da39a3ee5e6b4b0d input=5535b77c37a119e0]*/
 
 /* For PyByteArray_AS_STRING(). */
-char _PyByteArray_empty_string[] = "";
+_Py_ALIGNED_DEF(ALIGNOF_MAX_ALIGN_T, char) _PyByteArray_empty_string[] = "";
 
 /* Helpers */