Noble metal nanoparticles always show bond length contraction with the decrease in particle size. PVP-protected small Pd metal nanoparticles (MNPs) were reported to have the unique characteristic of expanding Pd-Pd bond lengths with decreases in particle size. To investigate the origin of this phenomenon in more detail, this work examined Pd MNPs supported on SiO2 (Pd MNPs/SiO2) via extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis, where the SiO2 support was used to stabilize the MNPs to prevent unexpected aggregation at higher temperatures. EXAFS data showed that each sample had a face-centered cubic (fcc) structure and that the smallest particles had the longest Pd-Pd bonds. Temperature dependent EXAFS measurements also revealed significant static disorder in the bond-elongated Pd MNPs/SiO2 samples. The XAFS spectral features of these bond-elongated Pd MNPs on SiO2 are in good agreement with those for palladium carbide, and we conclude that the lattice expansion in Pd MNPs can be attributed to the formation of palladium carbide.