diff --git a/src/refdb_fs.c b/src/refdb_fs.c
index af96821df..6d8c76236 100644
--- a/src/refdb_fs.c
+++ b/src/refdb_fs.c
@@ -1464,7 +1464,7 @@ static int reflog_parse(git_reflog *log, const char *buf, size_t buf_size)
 		entry = git__calloc(1, sizeof(git_reflog_entry));
 		GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(entry);
 
-		entry->committer = git__malloc(sizeof(git_signature));
+		entry->committer = git__calloc(1, sizeof(git_signature));
 		GITERR_CHECK_ALLOC(entry->committer);
 
 		if (git_oid_fromstrn(&entry->oid_old, buf, GIT_OID_HEXSZ) < 0)
diff --git a/tests/refs/reflog/reflog.c b/tests/refs/reflog/reflog.c
index 56ec422c3..3fbf412e4 100644
--- a/tests/refs/reflog/reflog.c
+++ b/tests/refs/reflog/reflog.c
@@ -154,6 +154,49 @@ void test_refs_reflog_reflog__reading_the_reflog_from_a_reference_with_no_log_re
 	git_buf_free(&subtrees_log_path);
 }
 
+void test_refs_reflog_reflog__reading_a_reflog_with_invalid_format_returns_error(void)
+{
+	git_reflog *reflog;
+	const git_error *error;
+	const char *refname = "refs/heads/newline";
+	const char *refmessage =
+		"Reflog*message with a newline and enough content after it to pass the GIT_REFLOG_SIZE_MIN check inside reflog_parse.";
+	git_reference *ref;
+	git_oid id;
+	git_buf logpath = GIT_BUF_INIT, logcontents = GIT_BUF_INIT;
+	char *star;
+
+	git_oid_fromstr(&id, current_master_tip);
+
+	/* create a new branch */
+	cl_git_pass(git_reference_create(&ref, g_repo, refname, &id, 1, refmessage));
+
+	/* corrupt the branch reflog by introducing a newline inside the reflog message (we replace '*' with '\n') */
+	git_buf_join_n(&logpath, '/', 3, git_repository_path(g_repo), GIT_REFLOG_DIR, refname);
+	cl_git_pass(git_futils_readbuffer(&logcontents, git_buf_cstr(&logpath)));
+	cl_assert((star = strchr(git_buf_cstr(&logcontents), '*')) != NULL);
+	*star = '\n';
+	cl_git_rewritefile(git_buf_cstr(&logpath), git_buf_cstr(&logcontents));
+
+	/* confirm that the file was rewritten successfully and now contains a '\n' in the expected location */
+	cl_git_pass(git_futils_readbuffer(&logcontents, git_buf_cstr(&logpath)));
+	cl_assert(strstr(git_buf_cstr(&logcontents), "Reflog\nmessage") != NULL);
+
+	/* clear the error state so we can capture the error generated by git_reflog_read */
+	giterr_clear();
+
+	cl_git_fail(git_reflog_read(&reflog, g_repo, refname));
+
+	error = giterr_last();
+
+	cl_assert(error != NULL);
+	cl_assert_equal_s("Unable to parse OID - contains invalid characters", error->message);
+
+	git_reference_free(ref);
+	git_buf_free(&logpath);
+	git_buf_free(&logcontents);
+}
+
 void test_refs_reflog_reflog__cannot_write_a_moved_reflog(void)
 {
 	git_reference *master, *new_master;