diff --git a/vortex-array/src/data/mod.rs b/vortex-array/src/data/mod.rs
index 94ab6c06b43..c4da19e3418 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/data/mod.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/data/mod.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ use crate::stats::{ArrayStatistics, Stat, Statistics, StatsSet};
 use crate::stream::{ArrayStream, ArrayStreamAdapter};
 use crate::validity::{ArrayValidity, LogicalValidity, ValidityVTable};
 use crate::{
-    ArrayChildrenIterator, ArrayDType, ArrayLen, ChildrenCollector, ContextRef,
+    ArrayChildrenIterator, ArrayDType, ArrayLen, ChildrenCollector, ContextRef, MetadataBytes,
     NamedChildrenCollector,
 };
 
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ impl ArrayData {
         encoding: EncodingRef,
         dtype: DType,
         len: usize,
-        metadata: Option<ByteBuffer>,
+        metadata: MetadataBytes,
         buffers: Option<Box<[ByteBuffer]>>,
         children: Option<Box<[ArrayData]>>,
         statistics: StatsSet,
@@ -276,10 +276,11 @@ impl ArrayData {
         offsets
     }
 
-    pub fn metadata_bytes(&self) -> Option<&[u8]> {
+    /// Returns the Array metadata bytes with 8-byte aligned.
+    pub fn metadata_bytes(&self) -> MetadataBytes {
         match &self.0 {
-            InnerArrayData::Owned(d) => d.metadata.as_ref().map(|b| b.as_slice()),
-            InnerArrayData::Viewed(v) => v.flatbuffer().metadata().map(|m| m.bytes()),
+            InnerArrayData::Owned(d) => d.metadata,
+            InnerArrayData::Viewed(v) => v.flatbuffer().metadata().to_le_bytes(),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/data/owned.rs b/vortex-array/src/data/owned.rs
index 478497321b9..5a1e4a44628 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/data/owned.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/data/owned.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use vortex_error::{vortex_bail, VortexResult};
 
 use crate::encoding::EncodingRef;
 use crate::stats::StatsSet;
-use crate::{ArrayDType, ArrayData};
+use crate::{ArrayDType, ArrayData, MetadataBytes};
 
 /// Owned [`ArrayData`] with serialized metadata, backed by heap-allocated memory.
 #[derive(Debug)]
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ pub(super) struct OwnedArrayData {
     pub(super) encoding: EncodingRef,
     pub(super) dtype: DType,
     pub(super) len: usize,
-    pub(super) metadata: Option<ByteBuffer>,
+    pub(super) metadata: MetadataBytes,
     pub(super) buffers: Option<Box<[ByteBuffer]>>,
     pub(super) children: Option<Box<[ArrayData]>>,
     pub(super) stats_set: RwLock<StatsSet>,
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/encoding/opaque.rs b/vortex-array/src/encoding/opaque.rs
index 8a2e719b96c..916e78bd861 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/encoding/opaque.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/encoding/opaque.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,9 @@ use crate::validate::ValidateVTable;
 use crate::validity::{LogicalValidity, ValidityVTable};
 use crate::variants::VariantsVTable;
 use crate::visitor::{ArrayVisitor, VisitorVTable};
-use crate::{ArrayData, Canonical, EmptyMetadata, IntoCanonicalVTable, MetadataVTable};
+use crate::{
+    ArrayData, Canonical, EmptyMetadata, IntoCanonicalVTable, MetadataBytes, MetadataVTable,
+};
 
 /// An encoding of an array that we cannot interpret.
 ///
@@ -29,7 +31,7 @@ pub struct OpaqueEncoding(pub u16);
 impl VariantsVTable<ArrayData> for OpaqueEncoding {}
 
 impl MetadataVTable<ArrayData> for OpaqueEncoding {
-    fn validate_metadata(&self, _metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<()> {
+    fn validate_metadata(&self, _metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<()> {
         Ok(())
     }
 
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/metadata.rs b/vortex-array/src/metadata.rs
index 1b05fc48dd2..5d039ef65ae 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/metadata.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/metadata.rs
@@ -2,20 +2,23 @@ use std::fmt::{Debug, Display, Formatter};
 
 use flexbuffers::FlexbufferSerializer;
 use vortex_buffer::ByteBuffer;
+use vortex_dtype::{ToBytes, TryFromBytes};
 use vortex_error::{vortex_bail, vortex_err, VortexError, VortexExpect, VortexResult};
 
 use crate::encoding::Encoding;
-use crate::ArrayData;
+use crate::{metadata, ArrayData};
+
+pub type MetadataBytes = [u8; 8];
 
 pub trait ArrayMetadata: SerializeMetadata + DeserializeMetadata + Display {}
 
 pub trait SerializeMetadata {
-    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<Option<ByteBuffer>>;
+    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<MetadataBytes>;
 }
 
 impl SerializeMetadata for () {
-    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<Option<ByteBuffer>> {
-        Ok(None)
+    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<MetadataBytes> {
+        Ok([0; 8])
     }
 }
 
@@ -25,7 +28,7 @@ where
 {
     type Output;
 
-    fn deserialize(metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<Self::Output>;
+    fn deserialize(metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<Self::Output>;
 
     /// Deserialize metadata without validation.
     ///
@@ -33,23 +36,23 @@ where
     ///
     /// Those who use this API must be sure to have invoked deserialize at least once before
     /// calling this method.
-    unsafe fn deserialize_unchecked(metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> Self::Output {
+    unsafe fn deserialize_unchecked(metadata: MetadataBytes) -> Self::Output {
         Self::deserialize(metadata)
             .vortex_expect("Metadata should have been validated before calling this method")
     }
 
     /// Format metadata for display.
-    fn format(metadata: Option<&[u8]>, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result;
+    fn format(metadata: MetadataBytes, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result;
 }
 
 pub trait MetadataVTable<Array> {
-    fn validate_metadata(&self, metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<()>;
+    fn validate_metadata(&self, metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<()>;
 
     fn display_metadata(&self, array: &Array, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result;
 }
 
 impl<E: Encoding> MetadataVTable<ArrayData> for E {
-    fn validate_metadata(&self, metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<()> {
+    fn validate_metadata(&self, metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<()> {
         E::Metadata::deserialize(metadata).map(|_| ())
     }
 
@@ -62,22 +65,19 @@ pub struct EmptyMetadata;
 impl ArrayMetadata for EmptyMetadata {}
 
 impl SerializeMetadata for EmptyMetadata {
-    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<Option<ByteBuffer>> {
-        Ok(None)
+    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<MetadataBytes> {
+        Ok([0; 8])
     }
 }
 
 impl DeserializeMetadata for EmptyMetadata {
     type Output = EmptyMetadata;
 
-    fn deserialize(metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<Self::Output> {
-        if metadata.is_some() {
-            vortex_bail!("EmptyMetadata should not have metadata bytes")
-        }
+    fn deserialize(_metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<Self::Output> {
         Ok(EmptyMetadata)
     }
 
-    fn format(_metadata: Option<&[u8]>, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+    fn format(_metadata: MetadataBytes, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
         f.write_str("EmptyMetadata")
     }
 }
@@ -101,13 +101,14 @@ where
         >,
     >,
 {
-    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<Option<ByteBuffer>> {
+    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<[u8; 8]> {
         let buf = rkyv::to_bytes::<VortexError>(&self.0)?;
-        if buf.is_empty() {
-            Ok(None)
-        } else {
-            Ok(Some(ByteBuffer::from(buf)))
+        if buf.len() > 8 {
+            vortex_bail!("Metadata exceeds 8 bytes")
         }
+        let mut metadata: [u8; 8] = [0; 8];
+        metadata[..buf.len()].copy_from_slice(buf.as_slice());
+        Ok(metadata)
     }
 }
 
@@ -124,14 +125,12 @@ where
 {
     type Output = M;
 
-    fn deserialize(metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<Self::Output> {
-        rkyv::from_bytes::<M, VortexError>(
-            metadata.ok_or_else(|| vortex_err!("Missing expected metadata"))?,
-        )
+    fn deserialize(metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<Self::Output> {
+        rkyv::from_bytes::<M, VortexError>(&metadata[..])
     }
 
     #[allow(clippy::use_debug)]
-    fn format(metadata: Option<&[u8]>, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+    fn format(metadata: MetadataBytes, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
         match Self::deserialize(metadata) {
             Ok(m) => write!(f, "{:?}", m),
             Err(_) => write!(f, "Failed to deserialize metadata"),
@@ -145,10 +144,14 @@ impl<M> SerializeMetadata for SerdeMetadata<M>
 where
     M: serde::Serialize,
 {
-    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<Option<ByteBuffer>> {
+    fn serialize(&self) -> VortexResult<MetadataBytes> {
         let mut ser = FlexbufferSerializer::new();
         serde::Serialize::serialize(&self.0, &mut ser)?;
-        Ok(Some(ser.take_buffer().into()))
+        let buf = ser.take_buffer();
+        if buf.len() > 8 {
+            vortex_bail!("Metadata exceeds 8 bytes")
+        }
+        Ok(buf.as_slice().try_into()?)
     }
 }
 
@@ -159,14 +162,14 @@ where
 {
     type Output = M;
 
-    fn deserialize(metadata: Option<&[u8]>) -> VortexResult<Self::Output> {
-        let bytes =
-            metadata.ok_or_else(|| vortex_err!("Serde metadata requires metadata bytes"))?;
-        Ok(M::deserialize(flexbuffers::Reader::get_root(bytes)?)?)
+    fn deserialize(metadata: MetadataBytes) -> VortexResult<Self::Output> {
+        Ok(M::deserialize(flexbuffers::Reader::get_root(
+            &metadata[..],
+        )?)?)
     }
 
     #[allow(clippy::use_debug)]
-    fn format(metadata: Option<&[u8]>, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+    fn format(metadata: MetadataBytes, f: &mut Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
         match Self::deserialize(metadata) {
             Ok(m) => write!(f, "{:?}", m),
             Err(_) => write!(f, "Failed to deserialize metadata"),
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/nbytes.rs b/vortex-array/src/nbytes.rs
index a24d0dd055a..d8a36fc4358 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/nbytes.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/nbytes.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ impl ArrayData {
         self.encoding()
             .accept(self.as_ref(), &mut visitor)
             .vortex_expect("Failed to get nbytes from Array");
-        visitor.0 + self.metadata_bytes().map_or(0, |b| b.len())
+        visitor.0
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/parts.rs b/vortex-array/src/parts.rs
index 09791279c07..527af749703 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/parts.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/parts.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use std::fmt::{Debug, Formatter};
 use flatbuffers::{FlatBufferBuilder, Follow, WIPOffset};
 use itertools::Itertools;
 use vortex_buffer::ByteBuffer;
-use vortex_dtype::DType;
+use vortex_dtype::{DType, TryFromBytes};
 use vortex_error::{vortex_panic, VortexExpect, VortexResult};
 use vortex_flatbuffers::{
     array as fba, FlatBuffer, FlatBufferRoot, WriteFlatBuffer, WriteFlatBufferExt,
@@ -128,10 +128,7 @@ impl WriteFlatBuffer for ArrayPartsFlatBuffer<'_> {
         fbb: &mut FlatBufferBuilder<'fb>,
     ) -> WIPOffset<Self::Target<'fb>> {
         let encoding = self.array.encoding().id().code();
-        let metadata = self
-            .array
-            .metadata_bytes()
-            .map(|bytes| fbb.create_vector(bytes));
+        let metadata = u64::from_le_bytes(self.array.metadata_bytes());
 
         // Assign buffer indices for all child arrays.
         let nbuffers = u16::try_from(self.array.nbuffers())
diff --git a/vortex-array/src/test_harness.rs b/vortex-array/src/test_harness.rs
index 847a1f3feab..6289b74fe47 100644
--- a/vortex-array/src/test_harness.rs
+++ b/vortex-array/src/test_harness.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ use std::io::Write;
 
 use goldenfile::differs::binary_diff;
 use goldenfile::Mint;
+use vortex_dtype::ToBytes;
 use vortex_error::VortexExpect;
 
 use crate::{DeserializeMetadata, SerializeMetadata};
@@ -16,13 +17,11 @@ where
     T: DeserializeMetadata,
 {
     let mut mint = Mint::new("goldenfiles/");
-    if let Some(meta) = metadata
+    let meta = metadata
         .serialize()
-        .vortex_expect("Failed to serialize metadata")
-    {
-        let mut f = mint
-            .new_goldenfile_with_differ(name, Box::new(binary_diff))
-            .unwrap();
-        f.write_all(&meta).unwrap();
-    }
+        .vortex_expect("Failed to serialize metadata");
+    let mut f = mint
+        .new_goldenfile_with_differ(name, Box::new(binary_diff))
+        .unwrap();
+    f.write_all(&meta[..]).unwrap();
 }
diff --git a/vortex-flatbuffers/flatbuffers/vortex-array/array.fbs b/vortex-flatbuffers/flatbuffers/vortex-array/array.fbs
index d173877ef10..d233e9f7abd 100644
--- a/vortex-flatbuffers/flatbuffers/vortex-array/array.fbs
+++ b/vortex-flatbuffers/flatbuffers/vortex-array/array.fbs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ include "vortex-scalar/scalar.fbs";
 
 table Array {
     encoding: uint16;
-    metadata: [ubyte];
+    metadata: uint64; // We store as a u64 to guarantee 8-byte alignment.
     children: [Array];
     buffers: [uint16];
     stats: ArrayStats;
diff --git a/vortex-flatbuffers/src/generated/array.rs b/vortex-flatbuffers/src/generated/array.rs
index 3a813b7ca39..8bddea0c865 100644
--- a/vortex-flatbuffers/src/generated/array.rs
+++ b/vortex-flatbuffers/src/generated/array.rs
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ impl<'a> Array<'a> {
     args: &'args ArrayArgs<'args>
   ) -> flatbuffers::WIPOffset<Array<'bldr>> {
     let mut builder = ArrayBuilder::new(_fbb);
+    builder.add_metadata(args.metadata);
     if let Some(x) = args.stats { builder.add_stats(x); }
     if let Some(x) = args.buffers { builder.add_buffers(x); }
     if let Some(x) = args.children { builder.add_children(x); }
-    if let Some(x) = args.metadata { builder.add_metadata(x); }
     builder.add_encoding(args.encoding);
     builder.finish()
   }
@@ -60,11 +60,11 @@ impl<'a> Array<'a> {
     unsafe { self._tab.get::<u16>(Array::VT_ENCODING, Some(0)).unwrap()}
   }
   #[inline]
-  pub fn metadata(&self) -> Option<flatbuffers::Vector<'a, u8>> {
+  pub fn metadata(&self) -> u64 {
     // Safety:
     // Created from valid Table for this object
     // which contains a valid value in this slot
-    unsafe { self._tab.get::<flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'a, u8>>>(Array::VT_METADATA, None)}
+    unsafe { self._tab.get::<u64>(Array::VT_METADATA, Some(0)).unwrap()}
   }
   #[inline]
   pub fn children(&self) -> Option<flatbuffers::Vector<'a, flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<Array<'a>>>> {
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ impl flatbuffers::Verifiable for Array<'_> {
     use self::flatbuffers::Verifiable;
     v.visit_table(pos)?
      .visit_field::<u16>("encoding", Self::VT_ENCODING, false)?
-     .visit_field::<flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'_, u8>>>("metadata", Self::VT_METADATA, false)?
+     .visit_field::<u64>("metadata", Self::VT_METADATA, false)?
      .visit_field::<flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'_, flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<Array>>>>("children", Self::VT_CHILDREN, false)?
      .visit_field::<flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'_, u16>>>("buffers", Self::VT_BUFFERS, false)?
      .visit_field::<flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<ArrayStats>>("stats", Self::VT_STATS, false)?
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ impl flatbuffers::Verifiable for Array<'_> {
 }
 pub struct ArrayArgs<'a> {
     pub encoding: u16,
-    pub metadata: Option<flatbuffers::WIPOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'a, u8>>>,
+    pub metadata: u64,
     pub children: Option<flatbuffers::WIPOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'a, flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<Array<'a>>>>>,
     pub buffers: Option<flatbuffers::WIPOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'a, u16>>>,
     pub stats: Option<flatbuffers::WIPOffset<ArrayStats<'a>>>,
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ impl<'a> Default for ArrayArgs<'a> {
   fn default() -> Self {
     ArrayArgs {
       encoding: 0,
-      metadata: None,
+      metadata: 0,
       children: None,
       buffers: None,
       stats: None,
@@ -135,8 +135,8 @@ impl<'a: 'b, 'b, A: flatbuffers::Allocator + 'a> ArrayBuilder<'a, 'b, A> {
     self.fbb_.push_slot::<u16>(Array::VT_ENCODING, encoding, 0);
   }
   #[inline]
-  pub fn add_metadata(&mut self, metadata: flatbuffers::WIPOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'b , u8>>) {
-    self.fbb_.push_slot_always::<flatbuffers::WIPOffset<_>>(Array::VT_METADATA, metadata);
+  pub fn add_metadata(&mut self, metadata: u64) {
+    self.fbb_.push_slot::<u64>(Array::VT_METADATA, metadata, 0);
   }
   #[inline]
   pub fn add_children(&mut self, children: flatbuffers::WIPOffset<flatbuffers::Vector<'b , flatbuffers::ForwardsUOffset<Array<'b >>>>) {