if (is_write) {
                        /* deal with word alignment */
-                       if ((unsigned)dptr & 3) {
+                       if ((words == 1) && last_bytes) {
+                               local = 0;
+                               memcpy(&local, dptr, last_bytes);
+                       } else if ((unsigned)dptr & 3) {
                                memcpy(&local, dptr, sizeof(u32));
-                               writel(local, &control->tx_fifo);
-                               debug("pkt data sent (0x%x)\n", local);
                        } else {
-                               writel(*wptr, &control->tx_fifo);
-                               debug("pkt data sent (0x%x)\n", *wptr);
+                               local = *wptr;
                        }
+                       writel(local, &control->tx_fifo);
+                       debug("pkt data sent (0x%x)\n", local);
                        if (!wait_for_tx_fifo_empty(control)) {
                                error = -1;
                                goto exit;