In the project settings -> Code generation -> Global optimizations
there is a field "Use .sdata/.sbss for" -> "All data smaller than" (number field)
I've set this (number field) to 4
This results in all data smaller or equal to 4 bytes be put in .sdata/.sbss
Setting the field to "3" solves it.
But... imho 4 is
not smaller than 4