diff --git a/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020-internal.h b/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020-internal.h
index e0d06ad5e..1ae217eb3 100644
--- a/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020-internal.h
+++ b/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020-internal.h
@@ -238,6 +238,7 @@ const uint8_t syncword[2] = {0xD3,0x91};
 
 // header: number of bytes in packet including header
 struct cc1020_header {
+  uint8_t  pad;
   uint8_t  length;
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
diff --git a/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020.c b/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020.c
index e163657b2..28f967c1e 100644
--- a/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020.c
+++ b/platform/msb430/dev/cc1020.c
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ cc1020_send(const void *buf, unsigned short len)
   cc1020_txlen = PREAMBLESIZE + SYNCWDSIZE;
 
   // header
+  cc1020_txbuf[cc1020_txlen++] = 0x00;
   cc1020_txbuf[cc1020_txlen++] = HDRSIZE + len;
 
   // data to send