Embodiments herein describe on-demand packetization where data that is too large to be converted directly into data words (DWs) for a chip-to-chip (C2C) interface are packetized instead. When identifying a protocol word that is larger than the DW of the C2C interface, a protocol layer can perform packetization where a plurality of protocol words are packetized and sent as a transfer. In one embodiment, the protocol layer removes some or all of the control data or signals in the protocol words so that the protocol words no longer exceed the size of the DW. These shortened protocol words can then be mapped to DWs and transmitted as separate packets on the C2C. The protocol layer can then collect the portion of the control data that was removed from the protocol words and transmit this data as a separate packet on the C2C interface.