diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 465b646..1e97d87 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/).
 
 Fixed:
  - Attributes are now properly preserved when updating coordinates during pre-formatting for regridding ([#54](https://github.com/xarray-contrib/xarray-regrid/pull/54)).
+ - Handle datasets with inconsistent chunksizes during pre-formatting ([#57](https://github.com/xarray-contrib/xarray-regrid/pull/57)).
 
 
 ## 0.4.0 (2024-09-26)
diff --git a/src/xarray_regrid/methods/conservative.py b/src/xarray_regrid/methods/conservative.py
index 8d7c3e2..2ab67d9 100644
--- a/src/xarray_regrid/methods/conservative.py
+++ b/src/xarray_regrid/methods/conservative.py
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ def conservative_regrid_dataset(
     # Create weights array and coverage mask for each regridding dim
     weights = {}
     covered = {}
-    for coord in coords:
+    for coord in coords:  # noqa: PLC0206
         covered[coord] = (coords[coord] <= data[coord].max()) & (
             coords[coord] >= data[coord].min()
         )
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ def conservative_regrid_dataset(
         weights[coord] = da_weights
 
     # Apply the weights, using a unique set that matches chunking of each array
-    for array in data_vars.keys():
+    for array in data_vars.keys():  # noqa: PLC0206
         var_weights = {}
         for coord, weight_array in weights.items():
             var_input_chunks = data_vars[array].chunksizes.get(coord)
diff --git a/src/xarray_regrid/utils.py b/src/xarray_regrid/utils.py
index 9cbcc03..59a6e8f 100644
--- a/src/xarray_regrid/utils.py
+++ b/src/xarray_regrid/utils.py
@@ -249,8 +249,6 @@ def format_for_regrid(
     Currently handles padding of spherical geometry if lat/lon coordinates can
     be inferred and the domain size requires boundary padding.
     """
-    orig_chunksizes = obj.chunksizes
-
     # Special-cased coordinates with accepted names and formatting function
     coord_handlers: dict[str, CoordHandler] = {
         "lat": {"names": ["lat", "latitude"], "func": format_lat},
@@ -270,15 +268,22 @@ def format_for_regrid(
                 formatted_coords[coord_type] = str(coord)
 
     # Apply formatting
+    result = obj.copy()
     for coord_type, coord in formatted_coords.items():
         # Make sure formatted coords are sorted
-        obj = ensure_monotonic(obj, coord)
+        result = ensure_monotonic(result, coord)
         target = ensure_monotonic(target, coord)
-        obj = coord_handlers[coord_type]["func"](obj, target, formatted_coords)
+        result = coord_handlers[coord_type]["func"](result, target, formatted_coords)
+
         # Coerce back to a single chunk if that's what was passed
-        if len(orig_chunksizes.get(coord, [])) == 1:
-            obj = obj.chunk({coord: -1})
-    return obj
+        if isinstance(obj, xr.DataArray) and len(obj.chunksizes.get(coord, ())) == 1:
+            result = result.chunk({coord: -1})
+        elif isinstance(obj, xr.Dataset):
+            for var in result.data_vars:
+                if len(obj[var].chunksizes.get(coord, ())) == 1:
+                    result[var] = result[var].chunk({coord: -1})
+
+    return result
 
 
 def format_lat(
diff --git a/tests/test_format.py b/tests/test_format.py
index 3c9a35b..207e4e5 100644
--- a/tests/test_format.py
+++ b/tests/test_format.py
@@ -216,3 +216,40 @@ def test_stats():
     # And preserve integer dtypes
     assert formatted.data.dtype == source.data.dtype
     assert (formatted.longitude.diff("longitude") == 1).all()
+
+
+def test_maintain_single_chunk():
+    dx_source = 2
+    source = xarray_regrid.Grid(
+        north=90 - dx_source / 2,
+        east=360 - dx_source / 2,
+        south=-90 + dx_source / 2,
+        west=0 + dx_source / 2,
+        resolution_lat=dx_source,
+        resolution_lon=dx_source,
+    ).create_regridding_dataset()
+    source["a"] = xr.DataArray(
+        np.ones((source.latitude.size, source.longitude.size)),
+        dims=["latitude", "longitude"],
+        coords={"latitude": source.latitude, "longitude": source.longitude},
+    ).chunk({"latitude": -1, "longitude": -1})
+    source["b"] = source.a.copy().chunk({"latitude": 45, "longitude": 90})
+
+    dx_target = 1
+    target = xarray_regrid.Grid(
+        north=90,
+        east=360,
+        south=-90,
+        west=0,
+        resolution_lat=dx_target,
+        resolution_lon=dx_target,
+    ).create_regridding_dataset()
+
+    # dataset
+    formatted = format_for_regrid(source, target)
+    assert formatted.a.chunks == ((92,), (182,))
+    assert formatted.b.chunks == ((1, 45, 45, 1), (1, 90, 90, 1))
+
+    # dataarray
+    formatted = format_for_regrid(source.a, target)
+    assert formatted.chunks == ((92,), (182,))