diff --git a/src/network/message.cpp b/src/network/message.cpp
index 2fe233210..e6b60128e 100644
--- a/src/network/message.cpp
+++ b/src/network/message.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,19 @@ short Message::getShort()
     return ntohs(*(short*)(&m_data[m_pos-sizeof(short)]));
 }   // getShort
 
+// ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+/** Adds a floating point value to the message.
+ *  \param data Floating point value to add.
+ */
+void Message::addFloat(const float data)
+{
+    // The simple approach of using  addInt(*(int*)&data)
+    // does not work (at least with optimisation on certain g++ versions,
+    // see getFloat for more details)
+    int n;
+    memcpy(&n, &data, sizeof(float));
+    addInt(n);
+}   // addFloat
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 float Message::getFloat()
 { 
diff --git a/src/network/message.hpp b/src/network/message.hpp
index 39e2ea190..8ace585ea 100644
--- a/src/network/message.hpp
+++ b/src/network/message.hpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ public:
     void         addString(const std::string &data); 
     void         addStringVector(const std::vector<std::string>& vs);
     void         addUInt(unsigned int data)      { addInt(*(int*)&data);  }
-    void         addFloat(float data)            { addInt(*(int*)&data);  }
+    void         addFloat(const float data);    
     void         addBool(bool data)              { addChar(data?1:0);     }
     void         addChar(char data)              { addCharArray((char*)&data,1);}
     void         addCharArray(char *c, unsigned int n=1)