diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties b/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties
index 0d8f83ed6..2a2ee8ddc 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/resources/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.properties
@@ -602,6 +602,7 @@ refAlreadyExists=already exists
 refAlreadyExists1=Ref {0} already exists
 reflogEntryNotFound=Entry {0} not found  in reflog for ''{1}''
 refNotResolved=Ref {0} cannot be resolved
+refTableRecordsMustIncrease=records must be increasing: last {0}, this {1}
 refUpdateReturnCodeWas=RefUpdate return code was: {0}
 remoteConfigHasNoURIAssociated=Remote config "{0}" has no URIs associated
 remoteDoesNotHaveSpec=Remote does not have {0} available for fetch.
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java
index 48f6778f0..649f77724 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/JGitText.java
@@ -663,6 +663,7 @@ public static JGitText get() {
 	/***/ public String refAlreadyExists1;
 	/***/ public String reflogEntryNotFound;
 	/***/ public String refNotResolved;
+	/***/ public String refTableRecordsMustIncrease;
 	/***/ public String refUpdateReturnCodeWas;
 	/***/ public String remoteConfigHasNoURIAssociated;
 	/***/ public String remoteDoesNotHaveSpec;
diff --git a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/reftable/ReftableWriter.java b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/reftable/ReftableWriter.java
index 726339617..6459c2763 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/reftable/ReftableWriter.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.jgit/src/org/eclipse/jgit/internal/storage/reftable/ReftableWriter.java
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
+import java.text.MessageFormat;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@
 import java.util.zip.CRC32;
 
 import org.eclipse.jgit.annotations.Nullable;
+import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.JGitText;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.reftable.BlockWriter.DeleteLogEntry;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.reftable.BlockWriter.Entry;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.internal.storage.reftable.BlockWriter.IndexEntry;
@@ -285,8 +287,8 @@ public void writeRef(Ref ref, long updateIndex) throws IOException {
 	}
 
 	private void throwIllegalEntry(Entry last, Entry now) {
-		throw new IllegalArgumentException(
-			String.format("records must be increasing: last %s, this %s",
+		throw new IllegalArgumentException(MessageFormat.format(
+				JGitText.get().refTableRecordsMustIncrease,
 				new String(last.key, UTF_8), new String(now.key, UTF_8)));
 	}