diff --git a/lib/string.c b/lib/string.c
index eb4486ed40d2..b632c71df1a5 100644
--- a/lib/string.c
+++ b/lib/string.c
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ ssize_t sized_strscpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t count)
 	if (count == 0 || WARN_ON_ONCE(count > INT_MAX))
 		return -E2BIG;
 
+#ifndef CONFIG_DCACHE_WORD_ACCESS
 #ifdef CONFIG_HAVE_EFFICIENT_UNALIGNED_ACCESS
 	/*
 	 * If src is unaligned, don't cross a page boundary,
@@ -133,12 +134,14 @@ ssize_t sized_strscpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t count)
 	/* If src or dest is unaligned, don't do word-at-a-time. */
 	if (((long) dest | (long) src) & (sizeof(long) - 1))
 		max = 0;
+#endif
 #endif
 
 	/*
-	 * read_word_at_a_time() below may read uninitialized bytes after the
-	 * trailing zero and use them in comparisons. Disable this optimization
-	 * under KMSAN to prevent false positive reports.
+	 * load_unaligned_zeropad() or read_word_at_a_time() below may read
+	 * uninitialized bytes after the trailing zero and use them in
+	 * comparisons. Disable this optimization under KMSAN to prevent
+	 * false positive reports.
 	 */
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_KMSAN))
 		max = 0;
@@ -146,7 +149,11 @@ ssize_t sized_strscpy(char *dest, const char *src, size_t count)
 	while (max >= sizeof(unsigned long)) {
 		unsigned long c, data;
 
+#ifdef CONFIG_DCACHE_WORD_ACCESS
+		c = load_unaligned_zeropad(src+res);
+#else
 		c = read_word_at_a_time(src+res);
+#endif
 		if (has_zero(c, &data, &constants)) {
 			data = prep_zero_mask(c, data, &constants);
 			data = create_zero_mask(data);