diff --git a/rkyv/src/collections/swiss_table/table.rs b/rkyv/src/collections/swiss_table/table.rs
index d3d118dc..d0d95a0d 100644
--- a/rkyv/src/collections/swiss_table/table.rs
+++ b/rkyv/src/collections/swiss_table/table.rs
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ use core::{
     error::Error,
     fmt,
     marker::PhantomData,
-    mem::size_of,
+    mem::{size_of, MaybeUninit},
     ptr::{self, null, NonNull},
+    slice::from_raw_parts,
 };
 
 use munge::munge;
@@ -446,6 +447,16 @@ impl<T> ArchivedHashTable<T> {
                             }
                         }
 
+                        let mut zeros = MaybeUninit::<T>::uninit();
+                        unsafe {
+                            zeros.as_mut_ptr().write_bytes(0, 1);
+                        }
+                        let zeros = unsafe {
+                            from_raw_parts(
+                                zeros.as_ptr().cast::<u8>(),
+                                size_of::<T>(),
+                            )
+                        };
                         SerVec::with_capacity(
                             serializer,
                             len,
@@ -471,7 +482,7 @@ impl<T> ArchivedHashTable<T> {
                                             )?;
                                         }
                                     } else {
-                                        serializer.pad(size_of::<T>())?;
+                                        serializer.write(zeros)?;
                                     }
                                 }
 
diff --git a/rkyv/src/ser/writer/core.rs b/rkyv/src/ser/writer/core.rs
index 0656d63f..d7ba3751 100644
--- a/rkyv/src/ser/writer/core.rs
+++ b/rkyv/src/ser/writer/core.rs
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ mod tests {
     };
 
     #[test]
-    fn zeroes_padding() {
+    fn zeros_padding() {
         use core::mem::size_of;
 
         use crate::{Archive, Serialize};
diff --git a/rkyv/src/ser/writer/mod.rs b/rkyv/src/ser/writer/mod.rs
index 654aba4d..8778581c 100644
--- a/rkyv/src/ser/writer/mod.rs
+++ b/rkyv/src/ser/writer/mod.rs
@@ -83,11 +83,11 @@ where
 pub trait WriterExt<E>: Writer<E> {
     /// Advances the given number of bytes as padding.
     fn pad(&mut self, padding: usize) -> Result<(), E> {
-        const MAX_ZEROES: usize = 32;
-        const ZEROES: [u8; MAX_ZEROES] = [0; MAX_ZEROES];
-        debug_assert!(padding < MAX_ZEROES);
+        const MAX_ZEROS: usize = 32;
+        const ZEROS: [u8; MAX_ZEROS] = [0; MAX_ZEROS];
+        debug_assert!(padding < MAX_ZEROS);
 
-        self.write(&ZEROES[0..padding])
+        self.write(&ZEROS[0..padding])
     }
 
     /// Aligns the position of the serializer to the given alignment.