diff --git a/mps/manual/source/guide/index.rst b/mps/manual/source/guide/index.rst
index a7218dd2ba5..fd98e0481e5 100644
--- a/mps/manual/source/guide/index.rst
+++ b/mps/manual/source/guide/index.rst
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ Guide
    debug
    perf
    advanced
-
+   malloc
diff --git a/mps/manual/source/guide/lang.rst b/mps/manual/source/guide/lang.rst
index 68473613ba2..88c7ec93eb5 100644
--- a/mps/manual/source/guide/lang.rst
+++ b/mps/manual/source/guide/lang.rst
@@ -266,6 +266,25 @@ code for creating the object format for the toy Scheme interpreter::
     } MPS_ARGS_END(args);
     if (res != MPS_RES_OK) error("Couldn't create obj format");
 
+The keyword arguments specify the :term:`alignment` and the
+:term:`format methods` required by the AMC pool class. These are
+described in the following sections.
+
+.. topics::
+
+    :ref:`topic-format`.
+
+
+.. index::
+   single: alignment
+   single: alignment; object
+   single: Scheme; object alignment
+
+.. _guide-lang-alignment:
+
+Alignment
+^^^^^^^^^
+
 The argument for the keyword :c:macro:`MPS_KEY_FMT_ALIGN` is the
 :term:`alignment` of objects belonging to this format. Determining the
 alignment is hard to do portably, because it depends on the target
@@ -294,13 +313,19 @@ memory. Here are some things you might try:
 
         #define ALIGNMENT sizeof(mps_word_t)
 
-The other keyword arguments specify the :term:`format methods`
-required by the AMC pool class, which are described in the following
-sections.
+#. The MPS interface provides the type :c:type:`MPS_PF_ALIGN`, which
+   is the :term:`natural alignment` of the platform: the largest
+   alignment that might be required. So as a last resort, you can
+   use::
 
-.. topics::
+        #define ALIGNMENT MPS_PF_ALIGN
 
-    :ref:`topic-format`.
+   But this may be larger than necessary and so waste space. For
+   example, on Windows on x86-64, :c:type:`MPS_PF_ALIGN` is 16 bytes,
+   but this is only necessary for SSE_ types; ordinary types on this
+   platform require no more than 8-byte alignment.
+
+   .. _SSE: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t467de55.aspx
 
 
 .. index::
diff --git a/mps/manual/source/guide/malloc.rst b/mps/manual/source/guide/malloc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6718ce8b19c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mps/manual/source/guide/malloc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+.. index::
+   single: malloc; implementing
+   single: free; implementing
+
+.. _guide-malloc:
+
+Implementing malloc and free
+============================
+
+The MPS function :c:func:`mps_free` is unlike the Standard C Library
+function :c:func:`free` in that it takes a ``size`` argument. That's
+because it's nearly always the case that either the size of an object
+is known statically based on its type (for example, a structure), or
+else the size of the object is easily computed from information that
+needs to be stored anyway (for example, a vector), and so memory can
+be saved by not storing the size separately.
+
+But sometimes you need to interact with :term:`foreign code` which
+requires :c:func:`malloc` and :c:func:`free` (or a pair of functions
+with the same interface). How can you use the MPS to implement these
+functions? By storing the size in a header adjacent to the object,
+like this::
+
+    #include "mps.h"
+
+    static mps_pool_t malloc_pool;
+
+    typedef union {
+        size_t size;
+        char alignment[MPS_PF_ALIGN]; /* see note below */
+    } header_u;
+
+    void *malloc(size_t size) {
+        mps_res_t res;
+        mps_addr_t p;
+        header_u *header;
+        size += sizeof *header;
+        res = mps_alloc(&p, malloc_pool, size);
+        if (res != MPS_RES_OK)
+            return NULL;
+        header = p;
+        header->size = size;
+        return header + 1;
+    }
+
+    void free(void *p) {
+        if (p) {
+            header_u *header = ((header_u *)p) - 1;
+            mps_free(malloc_pool, header, header->size);
+        }
+    }
+
+The ``alignment`` member of ``union header_u`` ensures that
+allocations are aligned to the platform's :term:`natural alignment`
+(see :ref:`guide-lang-alignment`).
+
+The pool needs to belong to a :term:`manually managed <manual memory
+management>` pool class, for example :ref:`pool-mvff` (or its
+:ref:`debugging counterpart <topic-debugging>`)::
+
+    #include "mpscmvff.h"
+
+    void malloc_pool_init(mps_arena_t arena) {
+        mps_res_t res;
+        res = mps_pool_create_k(&malloc_pool, arena, mps_class_mvff(), mps_args_none);
+        if (res != RES_OK)
+            abort();
+    }
diff --git a/mps/test/function/229.c b/mps/test/function/229.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..27d1f087a93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mps/test/function/229.c
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+/* 
+TEST_HEADER
+ id = $Id: //info.ravenbrook.com/project/mps/master/test/function/1.c#2 $
+ summary = test malloc and free (for the manual)
+ language = c
+ link = testlib.o
+ parameters = POINTERS=1000 ITERATIONS=10000
+END_HEADER
+*/
+
+#include "mpscmvff.h"
+#include "testlib.h"
+
+static mps_pool_t malloc_pool;
+
+typedef union {
+  size_t size;
+  char alignment[MPS_PF_ALIGN];
+} header_u;
+
+static void *xmalloc(size_t size)
+{
+  mps_res_t res;
+  mps_addr_t p;
+  header_u *header;
+  size += sizeof *header;
+  res = mps_alloc(&p, malloc_pool, size);
+  if (res != MPS_RES_OK)
+    return NULL;
+  header = p;
+  header->size = size;
+  return header + 1;
+}
+
+static void xfree(void *p)
+{
+  if (p) {
+    header_u *header = ((header_u *)p) - 1;
+    mps_free(malloc_pool, header, header->size);
+  }
+}
+
+static void test(void)
+{
+ mps_arena_t arena;
+ size_t i, j;
+ void *p[POINTERS] = {0};
+
+ cdie(mps_arena_create_k(&arena, mps_arena_class_vm(), mps_args_none),
+      "create arena");
+ cdie(mps_pool_create_k(&malloc_pool, arena, mps_class_mvff(), mps_args_none),
+      "create pool");
+
+ for (i = 0; i < ITERATIONS; ++i) {
+   j = ranint(POINTERS);
+   xfree(p[j]);
+   p[j] = xmalloc(ranint(POINTERS));
+ }
+ for (j = 0; j < POINTERS; ++j) {
+   xfree(p[j]);
+ }
+ asserts(mps_pool_free_size(malloc_pool) == mps_pool_total_size(malloc_pool),
+         "free size != total_size");
+
+ mps_pool_destroy(malloc_pool);
+ mps_arena_destroy(arena);
+}
+
+int main(void)
+{
+ easy_tramp(test);
+ pass();
+ return 0;
+}
diff --git a/mps/test/testsets/passing b/mps/test/testsets/passing
index 4c0a615cd88..fde2ca5de8d 100644
--- a/mps/test/testsets/passing
+++ b/mps/test/testsets/passing
@@ -168,3 +168,4 @@ function/224.c
 % 225 -- no such test
 function/226.c
 function/227.c
+function/229.c
\ No newline at end of file