diff --git a/reftable/basics.c b/reftable/basics.c
index fe2b83ff83..10b234ea55 100644
--- a/reftable/basics.c
+++ b/reftable/basics.c
@@ -263,14 +263,12 @@ int names_equal(const char **a, const char **b)
 	return a[i] == b[i];
 }
 
-int common_prefix_size(struct reftable_buf *a, struct reftable_buf *b)
+size_t common_prefix_size(struct reftable_buf *a, struct reftable_buf *b)
 {
-	int p = 0;
-	for (; p < a->len && p < b->len; p++) {
+	size_t p = 0;
+	for (; p < a->len && p < b->len; p++)
 		if (a->buf[p] != b->buf[p])
 			break;
-	}
-
 	return p;
 }
 
diff --git a/reftable/basics.h b/reftable/basics.h
index 4bf71b0954..9ff81a68f8 100644
--- a/reftable/basics.h
+++ b/reftable/basics.h
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static inline void *reftable_alloc_grow(void *p, size_t nelem, size_t elsize,
 #endif
 
 /* Find the longest shared prefix size of `a` and `b` */
-int common_prefix_size(struct reftable_buf *a, struct reftable_buf *b);
+size_t common_prefix_size(struct reftable_buf *a, struct reftable_buf *b);
 
 int hash_size(enum reftable_hash id);
 
diff --git a/reftable/record.c b/reftable/record.c
index a55ce76aeb..4a3e019528 100644
--- a/reftable/record.c
+++ b/reftable/record.c
@@ -144,9 +144,9 @@ int reftable_encode_key(int *restart, struct string_view dest,
 			uint8_t extra)
 {
 	struct string_view start = dest;
-	int prefix_len = common_prefix_size(&prev_key, &key);
+	size_t prefix_len = common_prefix_size(&prev_key, &key);
 	uint64_t suffix_len = key.len - prefix_len;
-	int n = put_var_int(&dest, (uint64_t)prefix_len);
+	int n = put_var_int(&dest, prefix_len);
 	if (n < 0)
 		return -1;
 	string_view_consume(&dest, n);
diff --git a/reftable/writer.c b/reftable/writer.c
index 740c98038e..91d6629486 100644
--- a/reftable/writer.c
+++ b/reftable/writer.c
@@ -577,7 +577,7 @@ static int writer_finish_section(struct reftable_writer *w)
 
 struct common_prefix_arg {
 	struct reftable_buf *last;
-	int max;
+	size_t max;
 };
 
 static void update_common(void *void_arg, void *key)
@@ -585,10 +585,9 @@ static void update_common(void *void_arg, void *key)
 	struct common_prefix_arg *arg = void_arg;
 	struct obj_index_tree_node *entry = key;
 	if (arg->last) {
-		int n = common_prefix_size(&entry->hash, arg->last);
-		if (n > arg->max) {
+		size_t n = common_prefix_size(&entry->hash, arg->last);
+		if (n > arg->max)
 			arg->max = n;
-		}
 	}
 	arg->last = &entry->hash;
 }
diff --git a/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c b/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c
index 1d640b280f..9ba7eb05ad 100644
--- a/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c
+++ b/t/unit-tests/t-reftable-basics.c
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ int cmd_main(int argc UNUSED, const char *argv[] UNUSED)
 		for (size_t i = 0; i < ARRAY_SIZE(cases); i++) {
 			check(!reftable_buf_addstr(&a, cases[i].a));
 			check(!reftable_buf_addstr(&b, cases[i].b));
-			check_int(common_prefix_size(&a, &b), ==, cases[i].want);
+			check_uint(common_prefix_size(&a, &b), ==, cases[i].want);
 			reftable_buf_reset(&a);
 			reftable_buf_reset(&b);
 		}