diff --git a/refs/reftable-backend.c b/refs/reftable-backend.c
index 6814c87bc618229ac8a70b904be3f850371ad876..9cfb0cb26721a9425c3b4a374f7b41e192037315 100644
--- a/refs/reftable-backend.c
+++ b/refs/reftable-backend.c
@@ -1443,7 +1443,9 @@ static int write_transaction_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *cb_data
 	 * multiple entries. Each entry will contain a different update_index,
 	 * so set the limits accordingly.
 	 */
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts + arg->max_index);
+	ret = reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts + arg->max_index);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		goto done;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < arg->updates_nr; i++) {
 		struct reftable_transaction_update *tx_update = &arg->updates[i];
@@ -1766,7 +1768,9 @@ static int write_copy_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *cb_data)
 	deletion_ts = creation_ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(arg->be->stack);
 	if (arg->delete_old)
 		creation_ts++;
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, deletion_ts, creation_ts);
+	ret = reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, deletion_ts, creation_ts);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		goto done;
 
 	/*
 	 * Add the new reference. If this is a rename then we also delete the
@@ -2298,7 +2302,9 @@ static int write_reflog_existence_table(struct reftable_writer *writer,
 	if (ret <= 0)
 		goto done;
 
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	ret = reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		goto done;
 
 	/*
 	 * The existence entry has both old and new object ID set to the
@@ -2357,7 +2363,9 @@ static int write_reflog_delete_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *cb_da
 	uint64_t ts = reftable_stack_next_update_index(arg->stack);
 	int ret;
 
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	ret = reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		goto out;
 
 	ret = reftable_stack_init_log_iterator(arg->stack, &it);
 	if (ret < 0)
@@ -2434,7 +2442,9 @@ static int write_reflog_expiry_table(struct reftable_writer *writer, void *cb_da
 		if (arg->records[i].value_type == REFTABLE_LOG_UPDATE)
 			live_records++;
 
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	ret = reftable_writer_set_limits(writer, ts, ts);
+	if (ret < 0)
+		return ret;
 
 	if (!is_null_oid(&arg->update_oid)) {
 		struct reftable_ref_record ref = {0};
diff --git a/reftable/reftable-error.h b/reftable/reftable-error.h
index f4048265629fe456207b88620658193f770a84f0..a7e33d964d0cfe5546f588d26c0fcb66ab326828 100644
--- a/reftable/reftable-error.h
+++ b/reftable/reftable-error.h
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ enum reftable_error {
 
 	/* Misuse of the API:
 	 *  - on writing a record with NULL refname.
+	 *  - on writing a record before setting the writer limits.
 	 *  - on writing a reftable_ref_record outside the table limits
 	 *  - on writing a ref or log record before the stack's
 	 * next_update_inde*x
diff --git a/reftable/reftable-writer.h b/reftable/reftable-writer.h
index 5f9afa620bb00de66c311765fb0ae8c6f56401ae..1ea014d389cc47f173279e3234a82f3fcbc807a0 100644
--- a/reftable/reftable-writer.h
+++ b/reftable/reftable-writer.h
@@ -124,17 +124,21 @@ int reftable_writer_new(struct reftable_writer **out,
 			int (*flush_func)(void *),
 			void *writer_arg, const struct reftable_write_options *opts);
 
-/* Set the range of update indices for the records we will add. When writing a
-   table into a stack, the min should be at least
-   reftable_stack_next_update_index(), or REFTABLE_API_ERROR is returned.
-
-   For transactional updates to a stack, typically min==max, and the
-   update_index can be obtained by inspeciting the stack. When converting an
-   existing ref database into a single reftable, this would be a range of
-   update-index timestamps.
+/*
+ * Set the range of update indices for the records we will add. When writing a
+ * table into a stack, the min should be at least
+ * reftable_stack_next_update_index(), or REFTABLE_API_ERROR is returned.
+ *
+ * For transactional updates to a stack, typically min==max, and the
+ * update_index can be obtained by inspeciting the stack. When converting an
+ * existing ref database into a single reftable, this would be a range of
+ * update-index timestamps.
+ *
+ * The function should be called before adding any records to the writer. If not
+ * it will fail with REFTABLE_API_ERROR.
  */
-void reftable_writer_set_limits(struct reftable_writer *w, uint64_t min,
-				uint64_t max);
+int reftable_writer_set_limits(struct reftable_writer *w, uint64_t min,
+			       uint64_t max);
 
 /*
   Add a reftable_ref_record. The record should have names that come after
diff --git a/reftable/stack.c b/reftable/stack.c
index 531660a49f0948c33041831ee0d740feacb22b2f..9649dbbb04c51e106ee752f14481bbad381cb348 100644
--- a/reftable/stack.c
+++ b/reftable/stack.c
@@ -1058,8 +1058,10 @@ static int stack_write_compact(struct reftable_stack *st,
 
 	for (size_t i = first; i <= last; i++)
 		st->stats.bytes += st->readers[i]->size;
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, st->readers[first]->min_update_index,
-				   st->readers[last]->max_update_index);
+	err = reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, st->readers[first]->min_update_index,
+					 st->readers[last]->max_update_index);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto done;
 
 	err = reftable_merged_table_new(&mt, st->readers + first, subtabs_len,
 					st->opts.hash_id);
diff --git a/reftable/writer.c b/reftable/writer.c
index 740c98038eaf883258bef4988f78977ac7e4a75a..76e24018172fc1d80a6535698757979e53b0e213 100644
--- a/reftable/writer.c
+++ b/reftable/writer.c
@@ -179,11 +179,24 @@ int reftable_writer_new(struct reftable_writer **out,
 	return 0;
 }
 
-void reftable_writer_set_limits(struct reftable_writer *w, uint64_t min,
+int reftable_writer_set_limits(struct reftable_writer *w, uint64_t min,
 				uint64_t max)
 {
+	/*
+	  * Set the min/max update index limits for the reftable writer.
+	  * This must be called before adding any records, since:
+	  * - The 'next' field gets set after writing the first block.
+	  * - The 'last_key' field updates with each new record (but resets
+	  *   after sections).
+	  * Returns REFTABLE_API_ERROR if called after writing has begun.
+	 */
+	if (w->next || w->last_key.len)
+		return REFTABLE_API_ERROR;
+
 	w->min_update_index = min;
 	w->max_update_index = max;
+
+	return 0;
 }
 
 static void writer_release(struct reftable_writer *w)
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-stack.c b/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-stack.c
index aeec195b2b1014445d71c5db39a9795017fd8ff2..c3f0059c346edbe1ad543c9832959c6fc0aa9180 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-stack.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-stack.c
@@ -103,7 +103,8 @@ static void t_read_file(void)
 static int write_test_ref(struct reftable_writer *wr, void *arg)
 {
 	struct reftable_ref_record *ref = arg;
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, ref->update_index, ref->update_index);
+	check(!reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, ref->update_index,
+					  ref->update_index));
 	return reftable_writer_add_ref(wr, ref);
 }
 
@@ -143,7 +144,8 @@ static int write_test_log(struct reftable_writer *wr, void *arg)
 {
 	struct write_log_arg *wla = arg;
 
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, wla->update_index, wla->update_index);
+	check(!reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, wla->update_index,
+					  wla->update_index));
 	return reftable_writer_add_log(wr, wla->log);
 }
 
@@ -961,7 +963,7 @@ static void t_reflog_expire(void)
 
 static int write_nothing(struct reftable_writer *wr, void *arg UNUSED)
 {
-	reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, 1, 1);
+	check(!reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, 1, 1));
 	return 0;
 }
 
@@ -1369,11 +1371,57 @@ static void t_reftable_stack_reload_with_missing_table(void)
 	clear_dir(dir);
 }
 
+static int write_limits_after_ref(struct reftable_writer *wr, void *arg)
+{
+	struct reftable_ref_record *ref = arg;
+	check(!reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, ref->update_index, ref->update_index));
+	check(!reftable_writer_add_ref(wr, ref));
+	return reftable_writer_set_limits(wr, ref->update_index, ref->update_index);
+}
+
+static void t_reftable_invalid_limit_updates(void)
+{
+	struct reftable_ref_record ref = {
+		.refname = (char *) "HEAD",
+		.update_index = 1,
+		.value_type = REFTABLE_REF_SYMREF,
+		.value.symref = (char *) "master",
+	};
+	struct reftable_write_options opts = {
+		.default_permissions = 0660,
+	};
+	struct reftable_addition *add = NULL;
+	char *dir = get_tmp_dir(__LINE__);
+	struct reftable_stack *st = NULL;
+	int err;
+
+	err = reftable_new_stack(&st, dir, &opts);
+	check(!err);
+
+	reftable_addition_destroy(add);
+
+	err = reftable_stack_new_addition(&add, st, 0);
+	check(!err);
+
+	/*
+	 * write_limits_after_ref also updates the update indexes after adding
+	 * the record. This should cause an err to be returned, since the limits
+	 * must be set at the start.
+	 */
+	err = reftable_addition_add(add, write_limits_after_ref, &ref);
+	check_int(err, ==, REFTABLE_API_ERROR);
+
+	reftable_addition_destroy(add);
+	reftable_stack_destroy(st);
+	clear_dir(dir);
+}
+
 int cmd_main(int argc UNUSED, const char *argv[] UNUSED)
 {
 	TEST(t_empty_add(), "empty addition to stack");
 	TEST(t_read_file(), "read_lines works");
 	TEST(t_reflog_expire(), "expire reflog entries");
+	TEST(t_reftable_invalid_limit_updates(), "prevent limit updates after adding records");
 	TEST(t_reftable_stack_add(), "add multiple refs and logs to stack");
 	TEST(t_reftable_stack_add_one(), "add a single ref record to stack");
 	TEST(t_reftable_stack_add_performs_auto_compaction(), "addition to stack triggers auto-compaction");
