diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a96be506b59f2d..66b7270fc0d2a4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1551,6 +1551,7 @@ CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-block
 CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-merged
 CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-pq
 CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-readwrite
+CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-record
 CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-stack
 CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-table
 CLAR_TEST_SUITES += u-reftable-tree
diff --git a/reftable/basics.c b/reftable/basics.c
index f0442a46cf7c13..6103b72b447a4a 100644
--- a/reftable/basics.c
+++ b/reftable/basics.c
@@ -44,18 +44,19 @@ void reftable_free(void *p)
 		free(p);
 }
 
-void *reftable_calloc(size_t nelem, size_t elsize)
+void *reftable_calloc(uintmax_t nelem, uintmax_t elsize)
 {
+	size_t size;
 	void *p;
 
-	if (nelem && elsize > SIZE_MAX / nelem)
+	if (reftable_alloc_size(nelem, elsize, &size) < 0)
 		return NULL;
 
-	p = reftable_malloc(nelem * elsize);
+	p = reftable_malloc(size);
 	if (!p)
 		return NULL;
 
-	memset(p, 0, nelem * elsize);
+	memset(p, 0, size);
 	return p;
 }
 
diff --git a/reftable/basics.h b/reftable/basics.h
index e4b83b2b03ff8a..29d2b799cae028 100644
--- a/reftable/basics.h
+++ b/reftable/basics.h
@@ -184,10 +184,11 @@ size_t names_length(const char **names);
 void *reftable_malloc(size_t sz);
 void *reftable_realloc(void *p, size_t sz);
 void reftable_free(void *p);
-void *reftable_calloc(size_t nelem, size_t elsize);
+void *reftable_calloc(uintmax_t nelem, uintmax_t elsize);
 char *reftable_strdup(const char *str);
 
-static inline int reftable_alloc_size(size_t nelem, size_t elsize, size_t *out)
+static inline int reftable_alloc_size(uintmax_t nelem, uintmax_t elsize,
+				      size_t *out)
 {
 	if (nelem && elsize > SIZE_MAX / nelem)
 		return -1;
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-basics.c b/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-basics.c
index c5d83b6714d2eb..37bf1ade5a45a3 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-basics.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/u-reftable-basics.c
@@ -200,6 +200,24 @@ void test_reftable_basics__put_get_be16(void)
 	cl_assert_equal_i(in, out);
 }
 
+void test_reftable_basics__alloc_size(void)
+{
+	size_t out;
+
+	cl_assert_equal_i(reftable_alloc_size(3, 5, &out), 0);
+	cl_assert_equal_i(out, 15);
+	cl_assert(reftable_alloc_size(SIZE_MAX, 2, &out) < 0);
+
+	/* Counts that do not fit in a size_t. */
+	if (SIZE_MAX < UINTMAX_MAX) {
+		cl_assert(reftable_alloc_size((uintmax_t)SIZE_MAX + 1,
+					      1, &out) < 0);
+		cl_assert(reftable_alloc_size(1, (uintmax_t)SIZE_MAX + 1,
+					      &out) < 0);
+		cl_assert(reftable_calloc((uintmax_t)SIZE_MAX + 1, 1) == NULL);
+	}
+}
+
 void test_reftable_basics__alloc_grow(void)
 {
 	int *arr = NULL, *old_arr;