diff --git a/reftable/record.c b/reftable/record.c
index fcd387ba5d..1fce441930 100644
--- a/reftable/record.c
+++ b/reftable/record.c
@@ -388,7 +388,6 @@ static int reftable_ref_record_decode(void *rec, struct reftable_buf key,
 	r->refname[key.len] = 0;
 
 	r->update_index = update_index;
-	r->value_type = val_type;
 	switch (val_type) {
 	case REFTABLE_REF_VAL1:
 		if (in.len < hash_size) {
@@ -426,9 +425,10 @@ static int reftable_ref_record_decode(void *rec, struct reftable_buf key,
 	case REFTABLE_REF_DELETION:
 		break;
 	default:
-		abort();
-		break;
+		err = REFTABLE_FORMAT_ERROR;
+		goto done;
 	}
+	r->value_type = val_type;
 
 	return start.len - in.len;
 
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-record.c b/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-record.c
index 1bf2e170dc..9c95083ef4 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-record.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-record.c
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "reftable/basics.h"
 #include "reftable/constants.h"
 #include "reftable/record.h"
+#include "reftable/reftable-error.h"
 
 static void t_copy(struct reftable_record *rec)
 {
@@ -202,6 +203,29 @@ void test_reftable_record__ref_record_roundtrip(void)
 	reftable_buf_release(&scratch);
 }
 
+void test_reftable_record__ref_record_decode_invalid_value_type(void)
+{
+	struct reftable_buf scratch = REFTABLE_BUF_INIT;
+	struct reftable_record out = {
+		.type = REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_REF,
+	};
+	struct reftable_buf key = REFTABLE_BUF_INIT;
+	uint8_t buffer[1024] = { 0 };
+	struct string_view dest = {
+		.buf = buffer,
+		.len = sizeof(buffer),
+	};
+
+	cl_must_pass(reftable_buf_addstr(&key, "refs/heads/master"));
+	cl_assert_equal_i(reftable_record_decode(&out, key, REFTABLE_NR_REF_VALUETYPES,
+						 dest, REFTABLE_HASH_SIZE_SHA1, &scratch),
+			  REFTABLE_FORMAT_ERROR);
+
+	reftable_record_release(&out);
+	reftable_buf_release(&key);
+	reftable_buf_release(&scratch);
+}
+
 void test_reftable_record__log_record_comparison(void)
 {
 	struct reftable_record in[3] = {