diff --git a/reference.go b/reference.go
index 701fb07..c86f97e 100644
--- a/reference.go
+++ b/reference.go
@@ -489,6 +489,11 @@ func ReferenceIsValidName(name string) bool {
 	return false
 }
 
+const (
+	// This should match GIT_REFNAME_MAX in src/refs.h
+	refnameMaxLength = 1024
+)
+
 type ReferenceFormat uint
 
 const (
@@ -509,7 +514,7 @@ func ReferenceNormalizeName(name string, flags ReferenceFormat) (string, error)
 	cname := C.CString(name)
 	defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(cname))
 
-	bufSize := C.size_t(1024)
+	bufSize := C.size_t(refnameMaxLength)
 	buf := (*C.char)(C.malloc(bufSize))
 	defer C.free(unsafe.Pointer(buf))
 
diff --git a/reference_test.go b/reference_test.go
index 0b02f55..e42db41 100644
--- a/reference_test.go
+++ b/reference_test.go
@@ -231,14 +231,14 @@ func TestReferenceNormalizeName(t *testing.T) {
 	checkFatal(t, err)
 
 	if ref != "refs/heads/master" {
-		t.Errorf("ReferenceNormalizeName(%q) = %q; want %q", "refs/heads//master", ref, want)
+		t.Errorf("ReferenceNormalizeName(%q) = %q; want %q", "refs/heads//master", ref, "refs/heads/master")
 	}
 
 	ref, err = ReferenceNormalizeName("master", ReferenceFormatAllowOnelevel|ReferenceFormatRefspecShorthand)
 	checkFatal(t, err)
 
 	if ref != "master" {
-		t.Errorf("master should be normalized correctly")
+		t.Errorf("ReferenceNormalizeName(%q) = %q; want %q", "master", ref, "master")
 	}
 
 	ref, err = ReferenceNormalizeName("foo^", ReferenceFormatNormal)