diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
index 8af940d2..ebe9d0bc 100644
--- a/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 [build]
+rustflags = ["-C", "target-cpu=native"]
 rustdocflags = ["--cfg", "docsrs"]
 
 [env]
diff --git a/benchlib/src/lib.rs b/benchlib/src/lib.rs
index 9f21ee9b..430d488d 100644
--- a/benchlib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/benchlib/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pub use self::generate::*;
 macro_rules! bench_dataset {
     ($ty:ty = $generate:expr) => {
         #[$crate::divan::bench(min_time = std::time::Duration::from_secs(3))]
-        pub fn serialize(bencher: $crate::divan::Bencher) {
+        pub fn ser(bencher: $crate::divan::Bencher) {
             let data = $generate;
             let mut bytes = rkyv::util::AlignedVec::<16>::new();
 
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ macro_rules! bench_dataset {
                 buffer.clear();
 
                 bytes = $crate::divan::black_box(
-                    rkyv::api::high::to_bytes_in::<_, rkyv::rancor::Panic>(
+                    rkyv::api::high::to_bytes_in::<_, rkyv::rancor::Failure>(
                         $crate::divan::black_box(&data),
                         $crate::divan::black_box(buffer),
                     )
@@ -29,13 +29,13 @@ macro_rules! bench_dataset {
         }
 
         #[$crate::divan::bench(min_time = std::time::Duration::from_secs(3))]
-        pub fn deserialize(bencher: $crate::divan::Bencher) {
+        pub fn de(bencher: $crate::divan::Bencher) {
             let bytes =
-                rkyv::api::high::to_bytes::<rkyv::rancor::Panic>(&$generate)
+                rkyv::api::high::to_bytes::<rkyv::rancor::Failure>(&$generate)
                     .unwrap();
 
             bencher.bench_local(|| {
-                rkyv::from_bytes::<$ty, rkyv::rancor::Panic>(
+                rkyv::from_bytes::<$ty, rkyv::rancor::Failure>(
                     $crate::divan::black_box(&bytes),
                 )
                 .unwrap()
@@ -43,13 +43,13 @@ macro_rules! bench_dataset {
         }
 
         #[$crate::divan::bench(min_time = std::time::Duration::from_secs(3))]
-        pub fn check_bytes(bencher: $crate::divan::Bencher) {
+        pub fn check(bencher: $crate::divan::Bencher) {
             let bytes =
-                rkyv::api::high::to_bytes::<rkyv::rancor::Panic>(&$generate)
+                rkyv::api::high::to_bytes::<rkyv::rancor::Failure>(&$generate)
                     .unwrap();
 
             bencher.bench_local(|| {
-                rkyv::access::<rkyv::Archived<$ty>, rkyv::rancor::Panic>(
+                rkyv::access::<rkyv::Archived<$ty>, rkyv::rancor::Failure>(
                     $crate::divan::black_box(&bytes),
                 )
             })
diff --git a/rkyv/src/string/repr.rs b/rkyv/src/string/repr.rs
index a6c79573..619f5528 100644
--- a/rkyv/src/string/repr.rs
+++ b/rkyv/src/string/repr.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 //! An archived string representation that supports inlining short strings.
 
-use core::{marker::PhantomPinned, mem, ptr, slice, str};
+use core::{
+    marker::PhantomPinned,
+    mem,
+    ptr::{self, copy_nonoverlapping, write_bytes},
+    slice, str,
+};
 
 use munge::munge;
 use rancor::{Panic, ResultExt as _, Source};
@@ -175,12 +180,12 @@ impl ArchivedStringRepr {
         // valid pointer to bytes because it is a subfield of `out` which the
         // caller has guaranteed points to a valid location.
         unsafe {
-            for i in 0..value.len() {
-                out_bytes.cast::<u8>().add(i).write(value.as_bytes()[i]);
-            }
-            for i in value.len()..INLINE_CAPACITY {
-                out_bytes.cast::<u8>().add(i).write(0xff);
-            }
+            write_bytes(out_bytes, 0xff, 1);
+            copy_nonoverlapping(
+                value.as_bytes().as_ptr(),
+                out_bytes.cast(),
+                value.len(),
+            );
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/rkyv/src/util/alloc/aligned_vec.rs b/rkyv/src/util/alloc/aligned_vec.rs
index 80c57f1a..4526023c 100644
--- a/rkyv/src/util/alloc/aligned_vec.rs
+++ b/rkyv/src/util/alloc/aligned_vec.rs
@@ -564,17 +564,15 @@ impl<const ALIGNMENT: usize> AlignedVec<ALIGNMENT> {
     /// assert_eq!(vec.as_slice(), &[1, 2, 3, 4]);
     /// ```
     pub fn extend_from_slice(&mut self, other: &[u8]) {
-        if !other.is_empty() {
-            self.reserve(other.len());
-            unsafe {
-                core::ptr::copy_nonoverlapping(
-                    other.as_ptr(),
-                    self.as_mut_ptr().add(self.len()),
-                    other.len(),
-                );
-            }
-            self.len += other.len();
+        self.reserve(other.len());
+        unsafe {
+            core::ptr::copy_nonoverlapping(
+                other.as_ptr(),
+                self.as_mut_ptr().add(self.len()),
+                other.len(),
+            );
         }
+        self.len += other.len();
     }
 
     /// Removes the last element from a vector and returns it, or `None` if it