diff --git a/reftable/dump.c b/reftable/dump.c
index 9c770a10cc..24476cc2a9 100644
--- a/reftable/dump.c
+++ b/reftable/dump.c
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ static void print_help(void)
 	printf("usage: dump [-cst] arg\n\n"
 	       "options: \n"
 	       "  -c compact\n"
+	       "  -b dump blocks\n"
 	       "  -t dump table\n"
 	       "  -s dump stack\n"
 	       "  -6 sha256 hash format\n"
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ static void print_help(void)
 int reftable_dump_main(int argc, char *const *argv)
 {
 	int err = 0;
+	int opt_dump_blocks = 0;
 	int opt_dump_table = 0;
 	int opt_dump_stack = 0;
 	int opt_compact = 0;
@@ -67,6 +69,8 @@ int reftable_dump_main(int argc, char *const *argv)
 	for (; argc > 1; argv++, argc--)
 		if (*argv[1] != '-')
 			break;
+		else if (!strcmp("-b", argv[1]))
+			opt_dump_blocks = 1;
 		else if (!strcmp("-t", argv[1]))
 			opt_dump_table = 1;
 		else if (!strcmp("-6", argv[1]))
@@ -88,7 +92,9 @@ int reftable_dump_main(int argc, char *const *argv)
 
 	arg = argv[1];
 
-	if (opt_dump_table) {
+	if (opt_dump_blocks) {
+		err = reftable_reader_print_blocks(arg);
+	} else if (opt_dump_table) {
 		err = reftable_reader_print_file(arg);
 	} else if (opt_dump_stack) {
 		err = reftable_stack_print_directory(arg, opt_hash_id);
diff --git a/reftable/reader.c b/reftable/reader.c
index 481dff10d4..f23c8523db 100644
--- a/reftable/reader.c
+++ b/reftable/reader.c
@@ -856,3 +856,66 @@ int reftable_reader_print_file(const char *tablename)
 	reftable_reader_free(r);
 	return err;
 }
+
+int reftable_reader_print_blocks(const char *tablename)
+{
+	struct {
+		const char *name;
+		int type;
+	} sections[] = {
+		{
+			.name = "ref",
+			.type = BLOCK_TYPE_REF,
+		},
+		{
+			.name = "obj",
+			.type = BLOCK_TYPE_OBJ,
+		},
+		{
+			.name = "log",
+			.type = BLOCK_TYPE_LOG,
+		},
+	};
+	struct reftable_block_source src = { 0 };
+	struct table_iter ti = TABLE_ITER_INIT;
+	struct reftable_reader *r = NULL;
+	size_t i;
+	int err;
+
+	err = reftable_block_source_from_file(&src, tablename);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto done;
+
+	err = reftable_new_reader(&r, &src, tablename);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto done;
+
+	printf("header:\n");
+	printf("  block_size: %d\n", r->block_size);
+
+	for (i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(sections); i++) {
+		err = reader_start(r, &ti, sections[i].type, 0);
+		if (err < 0)
+			goto done;
+		if (err > 0)
+			continue;
+
+		printf("%s:\n", sections[i].name);
+
+		while (1) {
+			printf("  - length: %u\n", ti.br.block_len);
+			printf("    restarts: %u\n", ti.br.restart_count);
+
+			err = table_iter_next_block(&ti);
+			if (err < 0)
+				goto done;
+			if (err > 0)
+				break;
+		}
+	}
+
+done:
+	reftable_reader_free(r);
+	table_iter_close(&ti);
+	return err;
+}
diff --git a/reftable/reftable-reader.h b/reftable/reftable-reader.h
index 4a4bc2fdf8..4a04857773 100644
--- a/reftable/reftable-reader.h
+++ b/reftable/reftable-reader.h
@@ -97,5 +97,7 @@ void reftable_table_from_reader(struct reftable_table *tab,
 
 /* print table onto stdout for debugging. */
 int reftable_reader_print_file(const char *tablename);
+/* print blocks onto stdout for debugging. */
+int reftable_reader_print_blocks(const char *tablename);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..462980c37c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+test_description='reftable write options'
+
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT=reftable
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_REF_FORMAT
+# Disable auto-compaction for all tests as we explicitly control repacking of
+# refs.
+GIT_TEST_REFTABLE_AUTOCOMPACTION=false
+export GIT_TEST_REFTABLE_AUTOCOMPACTION
+# Block sizes depend on the hash function, so we force SHA1 here.
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH=sha1
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_HASH
+# Block sizes also depend on the actual refs we write, so we force "master" to
+# be the default initial branch name.
+GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME=master
+export GIT_TEST_DEFAULT_INITIAL_BRANCH_NAME
+
+. ./test-lib.sh
+
+test_expect_success 'default write options' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		git pack-refs &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		header:
+		  block_size: 4096
+		ref:
+		  - length: 129
+		    restarts: 2
+		log:
+		  - length: 262
+		    restarts: 2
+		EOF
+		test-tool dump-reftable -b .git/reftable/*.ref >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'disabled reflog writes no log blocks' '
+	test_config_global core.logAllRefUpdates false &&
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		git pack-refs &&
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		header:
+		  block_size: 4096
+		ref:
+		  - length: 129
+		    restarts: 2
+		EOF
+		test-tool dump-reftable -b .git/reftable/*.ref >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'many refs results in multiple blocks' '
+	test_when_finished "rm -rf repo" &&
+	git init repo &&
+	(
+		cd repo &&
+		test_commit initial &&
+		for i in $(test_seq 200)
+		do
+			printf "update refs/heads/branch-%d HEAD\n" "$i" ||
+			return 1
+		done >input &&
+		git update-ref --stdin <input &&
+		git pack-refs &&
+
+		cat >expect <<-EOF &&
+		header:
+		  block_size: 4096
+		ref:
+		  - length: 4049
+		    restarts: 11
+		  - length: 1136
+		    restarts: 3
+		log:
+		  - length: 4041
+		    restarts: 4
+		  - length: 4015
+		    restarts: 3
+		  - length: 4014
+		    restarts: 3
+		  - length: 4012
+		    restarts: 3
+		  - length: 3289
+		    restarts: 3
+		EOF
+		test-tool dump-reftable -b .git/reftable/*.ref >actual &&
+		test_cmp expect actual
+	)
+'
+
+test_done
