diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.cpp b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.cpp
index e6fa3d3913..90446ca40d 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 #include "VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.h"
 
 #include <cmath>
-#include <cstring>
 
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/DriverDetails.h"
@@ -27,10 +26,9 @@ bool geometry_shader_uid_data::IsPassthrough() const
 
 GeometryShaderUid GetGeometryShaderUid(PrimitiveType primitive_type)
 {
-  ShaderUid<geometry_shader_uid_data> out;
-  geometry_shader_uid_data* uid_data = out.GetUidData<geometry_shader_uid_data>();
-  memset(uid_data, 0, sizeof(geometry_shader_uid_data));
+  GeometryShaderUid out;
 
+  geometry_shader_uid_data* const uid_data = out.GetUidData();
   uid_data->primitive_type = static_cast<u32>(primitive_type);
   uid_data->numTexGens = xfmem.numTexGen.numTexGens;
 
@@ -364,7 +362,6 @@ static void EndPrimitive(ShaderCode& out, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,
 void EnumerateGeometryShaderUids(const std::function<void(const GeometryShaderUid&)>& callback)
 {
   GeometryShaderUid uid;
-  std::memset(&uid, 0, sizeof(uid));
 
   const std::array<PrimitiveType, 3> primitive_lut = {
       {g_ActiveConfig.backend_info.bSupportsPrimitiveRestart ? PrimitiveType::TriangleStrip :
@@ -372,7 +369,7 @@ void EnumerateGeometryShaderUids(const std::function<void(const GeometryShaderUi
        PrimitiveType::Lines, PrimitiveType::Points}};
   for (PrimitiveType primitive : primitive_lut)
   {
-    auto* guid = uid.GetUidData<geometry_shader_uid_data>();
+    geometry_shader_uid_data* const guid = uid.GetUidData();
     guid->primitive_type = static_cast<u32>(primitive);
 
     for (u32 texgens = 0; texgens <= 8; texgens++)
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.h b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.h
index 0c688d30a7..ba73e3875f 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.h
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/GeometryShaderGen.h
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 enum class APIType;
 
 #pragma pack(1)
-
 struct geometry_shader_uid_data
 {
   u32 NumValues() const { return sizeof(geometry_shader_uid_data); }
@@ -21,10 +20,9 @@ struct geometry_shader_uid_data
   u32 numTexGens : 4;
   u32 primitive_type : 2;
 };
-
 #pragma pack()
 
-typedef ShaderUid<geometry_shader_uid_data> GeometryShaderUid;
+using GeometryShaderUid = ShaderUid<geometry_shader_uid_data>;
 
 ShaderCode GenerateGeometryShaderCode(APIType ApiType, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,
                                       const geometry_shader_uid_data* uid_data);
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.cpp b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.cpp
index 314eab9995..72402ab4c8 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 
 #include <cmath>
 #include <cstdio>
-#include <cstring>
 
 #include "Common/Assert.h"
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
@@ -162,9 +161,8 @@ static const char* tevAOutputTable[] = {"prev.a", "c0.a", "c1.a", "c2.a"};
 PixelShaderUid GetPixelShaderUid()
 {
   PixelShaderUid out;
-  pixel_shader_uid_data* uid_data = out.GetUidData<pixel_shader_uid_data>();
-  memset(uid_data, 0, sizeof(*uid_data));
 
+  pixel_shader_uid_data* const uid_data = out.GetUidData();
   uid_data->useDstAlpha = bpmem.dstalpha.enable && bpmem.blendmode.alphaupdate &&
                           bpmem.zcontrol.pixel_format == PEControl::RGBA6_Z24;
 
@@ -340,7 +338,7 @@ PixelShaderUid GetPixelShaderUid()
 void ClearUnusedPixelShaderUidBits(APIType ApiType, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,
                                    PixelShaderUid* uid)
 {
-  pixel_shader_uid_data* uid_data = uid->GetUidData<pixel_shader_uid_data>();
+  pixel_shader_uid_data* const uid_data = uid->GetUidData();
 
   // OpenGL and Vulkan convert implicitly normalized color outputs to their uint representation.
   // Therefore, it is not necessary to use a uint output on these backends. We also disable the
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.h b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.h
index 91c19300ba..234ff875ca 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.h
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/PixelShaderGen.h
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ struct pixel_shader_uid_data
 };
 #pragma pack()
 
-typedef ShaderUid<pixel_shader_uid_data> PixelShaderUid;
+using PixelShaderUid = ShaderUid<pixel_shader_uid_data>;
 
 ShaderCode GeneratePixelShaderCode(APIType ApiType, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,
                                    const pixel_shader_uid_data* uid_data);
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/ShaderGenCommon.h b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/ShaderGenCommon.h
index 216f791df5..3dd125b2ca 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/ShaderGenCommon.h
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/ShaderGenCommon.h
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include <cstring>
 #include <map>
 #include <string>
+#include <type_traits>
 #include <vector>
 
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
@@ -48,17 +49,6 @@ public:
    * Tells us that a specific constant range (including last_index) is being used by the shader
    */
   void SetConstantsUsed(unsigned int first_index, unsigned int last_index) {}
-  /*
-   * Returns a pointer to an internally stored object of the uid_data type.
-   * @warning since most child classes use the default implementation you shouldn't access this
-   * directly without adding precautions against nullptr access (e.g. via adding a dummy structure,
-   * cf. the vertex/pixel shader generators)
-   */
-  template <class uid_data>
-  uid_data* GetUidData()
-  {
-    return nullptr;
-  }
 };
 
 /*
@@ -74,6 +64,9 @@ template <class uid_data>
 class ShaderUid : public ShaderGeneratorInterface
 {
 public:
+  static_assert(std::is_trivially_copyable_v<uid_data>,
+                "uid_data must be a trivially copyable type");
+
   bool operator==(const ShaderUid& obj) const
   {
     return memcmp(this->values, obj.values, data.NumValues() * sizeof(*values)) == 0;
@@ -90,19 +83,22 @@ public:
     return memcmp(this->values, obj.values, data.NumValues() * sizeof(*values)) < 0;
   }
 
-  template <class uid_data2>
-  uid_data2* GetUidData()
-  {
-    return &data;
-  }
+  // Returns a pointer to an internally stored object of the uid_data type.
+  uid_data* GetUidData() { return &data; }
+
+  // Returns a pointer to an internally stored object of the uid_data type.
   const uid_data* GetUidData() const { return &data; }
+
+  // Returns the raw bytes that make up the shader UID.
   const u8* GetUidDataRaw() const { return &values[0]; }
+
+  // Returns the size of the underlying UID data structure in bytes.
   size_t GetUidDataSize() const { return sizeof(values); }
 
 private:
   union
   {
-    uid_data data;
+    uid_data data{};
     u8 values[sizeof(uid_data)];
   };
 };
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/TextureConverterShaderGen.cpp b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/TextureConverterShaderGen.cpp
index df46254d91..9bbb4e2892 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/TextureConverterShaderGen.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/TextureConverterShaderGen.cpp
@@ -2,13 +2,11 @@
 // Licensed under GPLv2+
 // Refer to the license.txt file included.
 
-#include <array>
-#include <cstring>
+#include "VideoCommon/TextureConverterShaderGen.h"
 
 #include "Common/Assert.h"
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/BPMemory.h"
-#include "VideoCommon/TextureConverterShaderGen.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/VideoCommon.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/VideoConfig.h"
 
@@ -18,9 +16,8 @@ TCShaderUid GetShaderUid(EFBCopyFormat dst_format, bool is_depth_copy, bool is_i
                          bool scale_by_half, bool copy_filter)
 {
   TCShaderUid out;
-  UidData* uid_data = out.GetUidData<UidData>();
-  memset(uid_data, 0, sizeof(*uid_data));
 
+  UidData* const uid_data = out.GetUidData();
   uid_data->dst_format = dst_format;
   uid_data->efb_has_alpha = bpmem.zcontrol.pixel_format == PEControl::RGBA6_Z24;
   uid_data->is_depth_copy = is_depth_copy;
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.cpp b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.cpp
index 097b6456bd..6d2886b256 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.cpp
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ namespace UberShader
 PixelShaderUid GetPixelShaderUid()
 {
   PixelShaderUid out;
-  pixel_ubershader_uid_data* uid_data = out.GetUidData<pixel_ubershader_uid_data>();
-  memset(uid_data, 0, sizeof(*uid_data));
+
+  pixel_ubershader_uid_data* const uid_data = out.GetUidData();
   uid_data->num_texgens = xfmem.numTexGen.numTexGens;
   uid_data->early_depth =
       bpmem.UseEarlyDepthTest() &&
@@ -26,13 +26,14 @@ PixelShaderUid GetPixelShaderUid()
       (!g_ActiveConfig.bFastDepthCalc && bpmem.zmode.testenable && !uid_data->early_depth) ||
       (bpmem.zmode.testenable && bpmem.genMode.zfreeze);
   uid_data->uint_output = bpmem.blendmode.UseLogicOp();
+
   return out;
 }
 
 void ClearUnusedPixelShaderUidBits(APIType ApiType, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,
                                    PixelShaderUid* uid)
 {
-  pixel_ubershader_uid_data* uid_data = uid->GetUidData<pixel_ubershader_uid_data>();
+  pixel_ubershader_uid_data* const uid_data = uid->GetUidData();
 
   // OpenGL and Vulkan convert implicitly normalized color outputs to their uint representation.
   // Therefore, it is not necessary to use a uint output on these backends. We also disable the
@@ -1390,11 +1391,10 @@ ShaderCode GenPixelShader(APIType ApiType, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,
 void EnumeratePixelShaderUids(const std::function<void(const PixelShaderUid&)>& callback)
 {
   PixelShaderUid uid;
-  std::memset(&uid, 0, sizeof(uid));
 
   for (u32 texgens = 0; texgens <= 8; texgens++)
   {
-    auto* puid = uid.GetUidData<UberShader::pixel_ubershader_uid_data>();
+    pixel_ubershader_uid_data* const puid = uid.GetUidData();
     puid->num_texgens = texgens;
 
     for (u32 early_depth = 0; early_depth < 2; early_depth++)
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.h b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.h
index 7b96d7952f..3575526ed2 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.h
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderPixel.h
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ struct pixel_ubershader_uid_data
 };
 #pragma pack()
 
-typedef ShaderUid<pixel_ubershader_uid_data> PixelShaderUid;
+using PixelShaderUid = ShaderUid<pixel_ubershader_uid_data>;
 
 PixelShaderUid GetPixelShaderUid();
 
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.cpp b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.cpp
index 4032e0df40..5fb30aaf03 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.cpp
@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@ namespace UberShader
 VertexShaderUid GetVertexShaderUid()
 {
   VertexShaderUid out;
-  vertex_ubershader_uid_data* uid_data = out.GetUidData<vertex_ubershader_uid_data>();
-  memset(uid_data, 0, sizeof(*uid_data));
+
+  vertex_ubershader_uid_data* const uid_data = out.GetUidData();
   uid_data->num_texgens = xfmem.numTexGen.numTexGens;
+
   return out;
 }
 
@@ -487,11 +488,10 @@ void GenVertexShaderTexGens(APIType ApiType, u32 numTexgen, ShaderCode& out)
 void EnumerateVertexShaderUids(const std::function<void(const VertexShaderUid&)>& callback)
 {
   VertexShaderUid uid;
-  std::memset(&uid, 0, sizeof(uid));
 
   for (u32 texgens = 0; texgens <= 8; texgens++)
   {
-    auto* vuid = uid.GetUidData<UberShader::vertex_ubershader_uid_data>();
+    vertex_ubershader_uid_data* const vuid = uid.GetUidData();
     vuid->num_texgens = texgens;
     callback(uid);
   }
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.h b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.h
index cbbcb1459e..a66c28c29c 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.h
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/UberShaderVertex.h
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ struct vertex_ubershader_uid_data
 };
 #pragma pack()
 
-typedef ShaderUid<vertex_ubershader_uid_data> VertexShaderUid;
+using VertexShaderUid = ShaderUid<vertex_ubershader_uid_data>;
 
 VertexShaderUid GetVertexShaderUid();
 
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.cpp b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.cpp
index 678df11a0e..bcd5f79bae 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.cpp
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.cpp
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // Licensed under GPLv2+
 // Refer to the license.txt file included.
 
-#include <cstring>
+#include "VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.h"
 
 #include "Common/Assert.h"
 #include "Common/CommonTypes.h"
@@ -10,20 +10,17 @@
 #include "VideoCommon/LightingShaderGen.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/NativeVertexFormat.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/VertexLoaderManager.h"
-#include "VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/VideoCommon.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/VideoConfig.h"
 #include "VideoCommon/XFMemory.h"
 
 VertexShaderUid GetVertexShaderUid()
 {
-  VertexShaderUid out;
-  vertex_shader_uid_data* uid_data = out.GetUidData<vertex_shader_uid_data>();
-  memset(uid_data, 0, sizeof(*uid_data));
-
   ASSERT(bpmem.genMode.numtexgens == xfmem.numTexGen.numTexGens);
   ASSERT(bpmem.genMode.numcolchans == xfmem.numChan.numColorChans);
 
+  VertexShaderUid out;
+  vertex_shader_uid_data* const uid_data = out.GetUidData();
   uid_data->numTexGens = xfmem.numTexGen.numTexGens;
   uid_data->components = VertexLoaderManager::g_current_components;
   uid_data->numColorChans = xfmem.numChan.numColorChans;
diff --git a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.h b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.h
index 7d533c4061..cfb47b35c6 100644
--- a/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.h
+++ b/Source/Core/VideoCommon/VertexShaderGen.h
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ struct vertex_shader_uid_data
 };
 #pragma pack()
 
-typedef ShaderUid<vertex_shader_uid_data> VertexShaderUid;
+using VertexShaderUid = ShaderUid<vertex_shader_uid_data>;
 
 VertexShaderUid GetVertexShaderUid();
 ShaderCode GenerateVertexShaderCode(APIType api_type, const ShaderHostConfig& host_config,