diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/item_selection.c b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/item_selection.c
index 7fca4fa9b05c..18eb26f977a2 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/item_selection.c
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/item_selection.c
@@ -2095,6 +2095,7 @@ PyArray_SearchSorted(PyArrayObject *op1, PyObject *op2,
     PyArrayObject *sorter = NULL;
     PyArrayObject *ret = NULL;
     PyArray_Descr *dtype;
+    int ap1_flags = NPY_ARRAY_NOTSWAPPED | NPY_ARRAY_ALIGNED;
     NPY_BEGIN_THREADS_DEF;
 
     /* Find common type */
@@ -2103,23 +2104,24 @@ PyArray_SearchSorted(PyArrayObject *op1, PyObject *op2,
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    /* need ap1 as contiguous array and of right type */
-    Py_INCREF(dtype);
-    ap1 = (PyArrayObject *)PyArray_CheckFromAny((PyObject *)op1, dtype,
-                                1, 1,
-                                NPY_ARRAY_ALIGNED | NPY_ARRAY_NOTSWAPPED,
-                                NULL);
-    if (ap1 == NULL) {
-        Py_DECREF(dtype);
-        return NULL;
-    }
-
     /* need ap2 as contiguous array and of right type */
+    Py_INCREF(dtype);
     ap2 = (PyArrayObject *)PyArray_CheckFromAny(op2, dtype,
                                 0, 0,
                                 NPY_ARRAY_CARRAY_RO | NPY_ARRAY_NOTSWAPPED,
                                 NULL);
     if (ap2 == NULL) {
+        Py_DECREF(dtype);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (PyArray_SIZE(ap2) > PyArray_SIZE(op1)) {
+        ap1_flags |= NPY_ARRAY_CARRAY_RO;
+    }
+
+    ap1 = (PyArrayObject *)PyArray_CheckFromAny((PyObject *)op1, dtype,
+                                1, 1, ap1_flags, NULL);
+    if (ap1 == NULL) {
         goto fail;
     }
     /* check that comparison function exists */
@@ -2148,7 +2150,7 @@ PyArray_SearchSorted(PyArrayObject *op1, PyObject *op2,
         /* convert to known integer size */
         sorter = (PyArrayObject *)PyArray_FromArray(ap3,
                                     PyArray_DescrFromType(NPY_INTP),
-                                    NPY_ARRAY_DEFAULT | NPY_ARRAY_NOTSWAPPED);
+                                    NPY_ARRAY_ALIGNED | NPY_ARRAY_NOTSWAPPED);
         if (sorter == NULL) {
             PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError,
                         "could not parse sorter argument");