diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 70b448b132..fa1469e5e7 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -497,6 +497,8 @@ include::config/rebase.txt[]
 
 include::config/receive.txt[]
 
+include::config/reftable.txt[]
+
 include::config/remote.txt[]
 
 include::config/remotes.txt[]
diff --git a/Documentation/config/reftable.txt b/Documentation/config/reftable.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fa7c4be014
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/config/reftable.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+reftable.blockSize::
+	The size in bytes used by the reftable backend when writing blocks.
+	The block size is determined by the writer, and does not have to be a
+	power of 2. The block size must be larger than the longest reference
+	name or log entry used in the repository, as references cannot span
+	blocks.
++
+Powers of two that are friendly to the virtual memory system or
+filesystem (such as 4kB or 8kB) are recommended. Larger sizes (64kB) can
+yield better compression, with a possible increased cost incurred by
+readers during access.
++
+The largest block size is `16777215` bytes (15.99 MiB). The default value is
+`4096` bytes (4kB). A value of `0` will use the default value.
diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
index 1cda48c504..bd9999cefc 100644
--- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "../git-compat-util.h"
 #include "../abspath.h"
 #include "../chdir-notify.h"
+#include "../config.h"
 #include "../environment.h"
 #include "../gettext.h"
 #include "../hash.h"
@@ -230,6 +231,22 @@ static int read_ref_without_reload(struct reftable_stack *stack,
 	return ret;
 }
 
+static int reftable_be_config(const char *var, const char *value,
+			      const struct config_context *ctx,
+			      void *_opts)
+{
+	struct reftable_write_options *opts = _opts;
+
+	if (!strcmp(var, "reftable.blocksize")) {
+		unsigned long block_size = git_config_ulong(var, value, ctx->kvi);
+		if (block_size > 16777215)
+			die("reftable block size cannot exceed 16MB");
+		opts->block_size = block_size;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 					  const char *gitdir,
 					  unsigned int store_flags)
@@ -245,12 +262,24 @@ static struct ref_store *reftable_be_init(struct repository *repo,
 	base_ref_store_init(&refs->base, repo, gitdir, &refs_be_reftable);
 	strmap_init(&refs->worktree_stacks);
 	refs->store_flags = store_flags;
-	refs->write_options.block_size = 4096;
+
 	refs->write_options.hash_id = repo->hash_algo->format_id;
 	refs->write_options.default_permissions = calc_shared_perm(0666 & ~mask);
 	refs->write_options.disable_auto_compact =
 		!git_env_bool("GIT_TEST_REFTABLE_AUTOCOMPACTION", 1);
 
+	git_config(reftable_be_config, &refs->write_options);
+
+	/*
+	 * It is somewhat unfortunate that we have to mirror the default block
+	 * size of the reftable library here. But given that the write options
+	 * wouldn't be updated by the library here, and given that we require
+	 * the proper block size to trim reflog message so that they fit, we
+	 * must set up a proper value here.
+	 */
+	if (!refs->write_options.block_size)
+		refs->write_options.block_size = 4096;
+
 	/*
 	 * Set up the main reftable stack that is hosted in GIT_COMMON_DIR.
 	 * This stack contains both the shared and the main worktree refs.
diff --git a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
index 462980c37c..8bdbc6ec70 100755
--- a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
+++ b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
@@ -99,4 +99,76 @@ test_expect_success 'many refs results in multiple blocks' '
 	)
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'tiny block size leads to error' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		error: unable to compact stack: entry too large
+		EOF
+		test_must_fail git -c reftable.blockSize=50 pack-refs 2>err &&
+		test_cmp expect err
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'small block size leads to multiple ref blocks' '
+	test_config_global core.logAllRefUpdates false &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit A &&
+		test_commit B &&
+		git -c reftable.blockSize=100 pack-refs &&
+
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		header:
+		  block_size: 100
+		ref:
+		  - length: 53
+		    restarts: 1
+		  - length: 74
+		    restarts: 1
+		  - length: 38
+		    restarts: 1
+		EOF
+		test-tool dump-reftable -b .git/reftable/*.ref >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'small block size fails with large reflog message' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit A &&
+		perl -e "print \"a\" x 500" >logmsg &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		fatal: update_ref failed for ref ${SQ}refs/heads/logme${SQ}: reftable: transaction failure: entry too large
+		EOF
+		test_must_fail git -c reftable.blockSize=100 \
+			update-ref -m "$(cat logmsg)" refs/heads/logme HEAD 2>err &&
+		test_cmp expect err
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'block size exceeding maximum supported size' '
+	test_config_global core.logAllRefUpdates false &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit A &&
+		test_commit B &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		fatal: reftable block size cannot exceed 16MB
+		EOF
+		test_must_fail git -c reftable.blockSize=16777216 pack-refs 2>err &&
+		test_cmp expect err
+	)
+'
+
 test_done
