diff --git a/torchao/experimental/ops/linear_8bit_act_xbit_weight/packed_weights_header.h b/torchao/experimental/ops/linear_8bit_act_xbit_weight/packed_weights_header.h
index 5357c39f0..b2563b26e 100644
--- a/torchao/experimental/ops/linear_8bit_act_xbit_weight/packed_weights_header.h
+++ b/torchao/experimental/ops/linear_8bit_act_xbit_weight/packed_weights_header.h
@@ -17,19 +17,18 @@ torchao::ops::PackedWeightsHeader get_packed_weights_header_universal(
     int nr,
     int kr,
     int version = 1) {
-  TORCHAO_CHECK(
-      version >= 0 && version < 256, "version must be between 0 and 255");
-  TORCHAO_CHECK(
-      weight_nbit >= 1 && weight_nbit < 256,
-      "weight_nbit must be between 1 and 255");
   return torchao::ops::PackedWeightsHeader(
       torchao::ops::PackedWeightsFormat::linear_8bit_act_xbit_weight_universal,
-      {((static_cast<unsigned short>(version) << 8) |
-        static_cast<unsigned short>(weight_nbit)),
-       ((static_cast<unsigned short>(has_weight_zeros) << 8) |
-        static_cast<unsigned short>(has_bias)),
-       static_cast<unsigned short>(nr),
-       static_cast<unsigned short>(kr),
+      {version,
+       weight_nbit,
+       has_weight_zeros,
+       has_bias,
+       nr,
+       kr,
+       0,
+       0,
+       0,
+       0,
        0,
        0,
        0,
diff --git a/torchao/experimental/ops/packed_weights_header.h b/torchao/experimental/ops/packed_weights_header.h
index f77e9ff1f..8a09e6200 100644
--- a/torchao/experimental/ops/packed_weights_header.h
+++ b/torchao/experimental/ops/packed_weights_header.h
@@ -7,17 +7,20 @@
 #pragma once
 #include <array>
 
+#include <stdint.h>
 #include <cassert>
+
 namespace torchao::ops {
 
-enum PackedWeightsFormat : unsigned short {
+enum class PackedWeightsFormat : uint32_t {
   unknown = 0,
   linear_8bit_act_xbit_weight_universal = 1
 };
 
 class PackedWeightsHeader {
  public:
-  using params_type = std::array<unsigned short, 7>;
+  using params_type = std::array<int, 14>;
+  const static int magic = 6712;
   PackedWeightsFormat format;
 
   // 14 bytes of format specific params
@@ -25,29 +28,32 @@ class PackedWeightsHeader {
 
   PackedWeightsHeader(
       PackedWeightsFormat format = PackedWeightsFormat::unknown,
-      params_type params = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0})
+      params_type params = {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0})
       : format{format}, params{params} {}
 
   inline static constexpr int size() {
-    static_assert(sizeof(format) + sizeof(params) == 16);
-    return 16;
+    static_assert(sizeof(magic) + sizeof(format) + sizeof(params) == 64);
+    return 64;
   }
 
   inline void write(void* packed_weights) const {
-    auto header = (unsigned short*)(packed_weights);
-    header[0] = (unsigned short)format;
+    auto header = reinterpret_cast<int*>(packed_weights);
+    header[0] = magic;
+    header[1] = static_cast<int>(format);
     for (int i = 0; i < params.size(); i++) {
-      header[i + 1] = params[i];
+      header[i + 2] = params[i];
     }
   }
 
   static PackedWeightsHeader read(const void* packed_weights) {
-    auto header = (unsigned short*)(packed_weights);
+    auto header = reinterpret_cast<const int*>(packed_weights);
+    assert(header[0] == PackedWeightsHeader::magic);
     params_type params;
     for (int i = 0; i < params.size(); i++) {
-      params[i] = header[i + 1];
+      params[i] = header[i + 2];
     }
-    return PackedWeightsHeader((PackedWeightsFormat)header[0], params);
+    return PackedWeightsHeader(
+        static_cast<PackedWeightsFormat>(header[1]), params);
   }
 
   bool operator==(const PackedWeightsHeader& other) const {