A method of performing a VMEbus split-read transaction (701) includes providing a master VMEbus module (502) coupled to a slave VMEbus module (504) through a VMEbus network (506). The master VMEbus module initiates a VMEbus split-read transaction request (524) in a VME address encoding phase (601) to the slave VMEbus module, where the VMEbus split-read transaction request comprises a return address (660) for the VMEbus master module in the VMEbus address encoding phase, and where the VMEbus split-read transaction request requests a set of data (544). The master VMEbus module releases the VMEbus network and the slave VMEbus module acquires the VMEbus network. The slave VMEbus module places the set of data on the VMEbus network, where the set of data comprises the return address for the VMEbus master module, and the master VMEbus module retrieves the set of data.