diff --git a/examples/esp32_sdio_load_ram_example/main/main.c b/examples/esp32_sdio_load_ram_example/main/main.c
index a320cba..efd6c67 100644
--- a/examples/esp32_sdio_load_ram_example/main/main.c
+++ b/examples/esp32_sdio_load_ram_example/main/main.c
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ void app_main(void)
         get_example_ram_app_binary(esp_loader_get_target(), &bin);
         ESP_LOGI(TAG, "Loading app to RAM ...");
         esp_loader_error_t err = load_ram_binary(bin.ram_app.data);
+        loader_port_esp32_sdio_deinit();
         if (err == ESP_LOADER_SUCCESS) {
             // Forward slave's serial output
             ESP_LOGI(TAG, "********************************************");
diff --git a/port/esp32_sdio_port.c b/port/esp32_sdio_port.c
index cb2bd03..0b317f4 100644
--- a/port/esp32_sdio_port.c
+++ b/port/esp32_sdio_port.c
@@ -54,6 +54,16 @@ esp_loader_error_t loader_port_esp32_sdio_init(const loader_esp32_sdio_config_t
     s_card_config.max_freq_khz = config->max_freq_khz;
     s_card_config.slot = config->slot;
 
+#if SOC_CACHE_INTERNAL_MEM_VIA_L1CACHE
+    /*
+        The buffer and lenght of the data passed to SDMMC Host Driver needs to be aligned.
+        The new L1 cache requires 64 bytes aligning of a buffer,
+        this flag ensures that SDMMC Driver allocates custom aligned buffer and memcpy the data to it.
+        This should be reworked when the new sdmmc driver-ng comes out as it would not need same alignment for size and buffer.
+    */
+    s_card_config.flags = SDMMC_HOST_FLAG_ALLOC_ALIGNED_BUF;
+#endif
+
     if (!config->dont_initialize_host_driver) {
         if (sdmmc_host_init() != ESP_OK) {
             return ESP_LOADER_ERROR_FAIL;
@@ -61,7 +71,7 @@ esp_loader_error_t loader_port_esp32_sdio_init(const loader_esp32_sdio_config_t
 
         sdmmc_slot_config_t slot_config = SDMMC_SLOT_CONFIG_DEFAULT();
         slot_config.width = 4;
-#if SOC_SDMMC_USE_GPIO_MATRIX && !SOC_SDMMC_USE_IOMUX
+#if SOC_SDMMC_USE_GPIO_MATRIX
         slot_config.clk = config->sdio_clk_pin;
         slot_config.cmd = config->sdio_cmd_pin;
         slot_config.d0 = config->sdio_d0_pin;
@@ -92,6 +102,9 @@ esp_loader_error_t loader_port_esp32_sdio_init(const loader_esp32_sdio_config_t
 void loader_port_esp32_sdio_deinit(void)
 {
     if (host_driver_needs_deinit) {
+#if SOC_CACHE_INTERNAL_MEM_VIA_L1CACHE
+        free(s_card.host.dma_aligned_buffer);
+#endif
         sdmmc_host_deinit();
         host_driver_needs_deinit = false;
     }
diff --git a/src/protocol_sdio.c b/src/protocol_sdio.c
index 9eb4fa3..47ced19 100644
--- a/src/protocol_sdio.c
+++ b/src/protocol_sdio.c
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ static esp_loader_error_t slave_write_register(const uint32_t addr, uint32_t reg
 
 static esp_loader_error_t slave_wait_ready(const uint32_t timeout)
 {
-    uint8_t reg = 0;
+    uint8_t reg __attribute__((aligned(4))) = 0;
 
     loader_port_start_timer(timeout);
     while ((reg & SD_IO_CCR_FN_ENABLE_FUNC1_EN) == 0) {
@@ -251,14 +251,18 @@ static esp_loader_error_t slave_init_link(void)
 
 esp_loader_error_t loader_initialize_conn(esp_loader_connect_args_t *connect_args)
 {
+    esp_loader_error_t err = ESP_LOADER_ERROR_FAIL;
     for (uint8_t trial = 0; trial < connect_args->trials; trial++) {
-
-        if (loader_port_sdio_card_init() != ESP_LOADER_SUCCESS) {
-            loader_port_debug_print("Retrying card connection...");
-            loader_port_delay_ms(100);
-        } else {
+        err = loader_port_sdio_card_init();
+        if (err == ESP_LOADER_SUCCESS) {
             break;
         }
+        loader_port_debug_print("Retrying card connection...");
+        loader_port_delay_ms(100);
+    }
+
+    if (err != ESP_LOADER_SUCCESS) {
+        return err;
     }
 
     RETURN_ON_ERROR(slave_init_io());