diff --git a/builtin/update-ref.c b/builtin/update-ref.c
index 2b1e336ba1..1e6131e04a 100644
--- a/builtin/update-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/update-ref.c
@@ -575,30 +575,7 @@ static void print_rejected_refs(const char *refname,
 				void *cb_data UNUSED)
 {
 	struct strbuf sb = STRBUF_INIT;
-	const char *reason = "";
-
-	switch (err) {
-	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_NAME_CONFLICT:
-		reason = "refname conflict";
-		break;
-	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_CREATE_EXISTS:
-		reason = "reference already exists";
-		break;
-	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_NONEXISTENT_REF:
-		reason = "reference does not exist";
-		break;
-	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_INCORRECT_OLD_VALUE:
-		reason = "incorrect old value provided";
-		break;
-	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_INVALID_NEW_VALUE:
-		reason = "invalid new value provided";
-		break;
-	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_EXPECTED_SYMREF:
-		reason = "expected symref but found regular ref";
-		break;
-	default:
-		reason = "unkown failure";
-	}
+	const char *reason = ref_transaction_error_msg(err);
 
 	strbuf_addf(&sb, "rejected %s %s %s %s\n", refname,
 		    new_oid ? oid_to_hex(new_oid) : new_target,
diff --git a/refs.c b/refs.c
index dce5c49ca2..3d580d03bb 100644
--- a/refs.c
+++ b/refs.c
@@ -3314,3 +3314,23 @@ int ref_update_expects_existing_old_ref(struct ref_update *update)
 	return (update->flags & REF_HAVE_OLD) &&
 		(!is_null_oid(&update->old_oid) || update->old_target);
 }
+
+const char *ref_transaction_error_msg(enum ref_transaction_error err)
+{
+	switch (err) {
+	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_NAME_CONFLICT:
+		return "refname conflict";
+	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_CREATE_EXISTS:
+		return "reference already exists";
+	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_NONEXISTENT_REF:
+		return "reference does not exist";
+	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_INCORRECT_OLD_VALUE:
+		return "incorrect old value provided";
+	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_INVALID_NEW_VALUE:
+		return "invalid new value provided";
+	case REF_TRANSACTION_ERROR_EXPECTED_SYMREF:
+		return "expected symref but found regular ref";
+	default:
+		return "unknown failure";
+	}
+}
diff --git a/refs.h b/refs.h
index 46a6008e07..2d58af3d88 100644
--- a/refs.h
+++ b/refs.h
@@ -907,6 +907,11 @@ void ref_transaction_for_each_rejected_update(struct ref_transaction *transactio
 					      ref_transaction_for_each_rejected_update_fn cb,
 					      void *cb_data);
 
+/*
+ * Translate errors to human readable error messages.
+ */
+const char *ref_transaction_error_msg(enum ref_transaction_error err);
+
 /*
  * Free `*transaction` and all associated data.
  */