diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index 224ff66c7b..75a0cda68a 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ int delete_ref(const char *msg, const char *refname,
 			       old_oid, flags);
 }
 
-void copy_reflog_msg(struct strbuf *sb, const char *msg)
+static void copy_reflog_msg(struct strbuf *sb, const char *msg)
 {
 	char c;
 	int wasspace = 1;
@@ -887,6 +887,15 @@ void copy_reflog_msg(struct strbuf *sb, const char *msg)
 	strbuf_rtrim(sb);
 }
 
+static char *normalize_reflog_message(const char *msg)
+{
+	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
+
+	if (msg && *msg)
+		copy_reflog_msg(&sb, msg);
+	return strbuf_detach(&sb, NULL);
+}
+
 int should_autocreate_reflog(const char *refname)
 {
 	switch (log_all_ref_updates) {
@@ -1092,7 +1101,7 @@ struct ref_update *ref_transaction_add_update(
 		oidcpy(&update->new_oid, new_oid);
 	if (flags & REF_HAVE_OLD)
 		oidcpy(&update->old_oid, old_oid);
-	update->msg = xstrdup_or_null(msg);
+	update->msg = normalize_reflog_message(msg);
 	return update;
 }
 
@@ -1951,9 +1960,14 @@ int refs_create_symref(struct ref_store *refs,
 		       const char *refs_heads_master,
 		       const char *logmsg)
 {
-	return refs->be->create_symref(refs, ref_target,
-				       refs_heads_master,
-				       logmsg);
+	char *msg;
+	int retval;
+
+	msg = normalize_reflog_message(logmsg);
+	retval = refs->be->create_symref(refs, ref_target,
+					 refs_heads_master, msg);
+	free(msg);
+	return retval;
 }
 
 int create_symref(const char *ref_target, const char *refs_heads_master,
@@ -2268,10 +2282,16 @@ int initial_ref_transaction_commit(struct ref_transaction *transaction,
 	return refs->be->initial_transaction_commit(refs, transaction, err);
 }
 
-int refs_delete_refs(struct ref_store *refs, const char *msg,
+int refs_delete_refs(struct ref_store *refs, const char *logmsg,
 		     struct string_list *refnames, unsigned int flags)
 {
-	return refs->be->delete_refs(refs, msg, refnames, flags);
+	char *msg;
+	int retval;
+
+	msg = normalize_reflog_message(logmsg);
+	retval = refs->be->delete_refs(refs, msg, refnames, flags);
+	free(msg);
+	return retval;
 }
 
 int delete_refs(const char *msg, struct string_list *refnames,
@@ -2283,7 +2303,13 @@ int delete_refs(const char *msg, struct string_list *refnames,
 int refs_rename_ref(struct ref_store *refs, const char *oldref,
 		    const char *newref, const char *logmsg)
 {
-	return refs->be->rename_ref(refs, oldref, newref, logmsg);
+	char *msg;
+	int retval;
+
+	msg = normalize_reflog_message(logmsg);
+	retval = refs->be->rename_ref(refs, oldref, newref, msg);
+	free(msg);
+	return retval;
 }
 
 int rename_ref(const char *oldref, const char *newref, const char *logmsg)
@@ -2294,7 +2320,13 @@ int rename_ref(const char *oldref, const char *newref, const char *logmsg)
 int refs_copy_existing_ref(struct ref_store *refs, const char *oldref,
 		    const char *newref, const char *logmsg)
 {
-	return refs->be->copy_ref(refs, oldref, newref, logmsg);
+	char *msg;
+	int retval;
+
+	msg = normalize_reflog_message(logmsg);
+	retval = refs->be->copy_ref(refs, oldref, newref, msg);
+	free(msg);
+	return retval;
 }
 
 int copy_existing_ref(const char *oldref, const char *newref, const char *logmsg)
diff --git a/refs/files-backend.c b/refs/files-backend.c
index 6516c7bc8c..e0aba23eb2 100644
--- a/refs/files-backend.c
+++ b/refs/files-backend.c
@@ -1629,7 +1629,7 @@ static int log_ref_write_fd(int fd, const struct object_id *old_oid,
 
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "%s %s %s", oid_to_hex(old_oid), oid_to_hex(new_oid), committer);
 	if (msg && *msg)
-		copy_reflog_msg(&sb, msg);
+		strbuf_addstr(&sb, msg);
 	strbuf_addch(&sb, '\n');
 	if (write_in_full(fd, sb.buf, sb.len) < 0)
 		ret = -1;
diff --git a/refs/refs-internal.h b/refs/refs-internal.h
index 4271362d26..357359a0be 100644
--- a/refs/refs-internal.h
+++ b/refs/refs-internal.h
@@ -96,12 +96,6 @@ enum peel_status {
  */
 enum peel_status peel_object(const struct object_id *name, struct object_id *oid);
 
-/*
- * Copy the reflog message msg to sb while cleaning up the whitespaces.
- * Especially, convert LF to space, because reflog file is one line per entry.
- */
-void copy_reflog_msg(struct strbuf *sb, const char *msg);
-
 /**
  * Information needed for a single ref update. Set new_oid to the new
  * value or to null_oid to delete the ref. To check the old value
