diff --git a/reftable/reftable-table.h b/reftable/reftable-table.h
index 4d61ce6cf7..5f935d02e3 100644
--- a/reftable/reftable-table.h
+++ b/reftable/reftable-table.h
@@ -97,9 +97,6 @@ uint64_t reftable_table_max_update_index(struct reftable_table *t);
 /* return the min_update_index for a table */
 uint64_t reftable_table_min_update_index(struct reftable_table *t);
 
-/* print blocks onto stdout for debugging. */
-int reftable_table_print_blocks(const char *tablename);
-
 /*
  * An iterator that iterates through the blocks contained in a given table.
  */
diff --git a/reftable/table.c b/reftable/table.c
index 1af3942322..ee83127615 100644
--- a/reftable/table.c
+++ b/reftable/table.c
@@ -740,71 +740,6 @@ uint64_t reftable_table_min_update_index(struct reftable_table *t)
 	return t->min_update_index;
 }
 
-int reftable_table_print_blocks(const char *tablename)
-{
-	struct {
-		const char *name;
-		int type;
-	} sections[] = {
-		{
-			.name = "ref",
-			.type = REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_REF,
-		},
-		{
-			.name = "obj",
-			.type = REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_OBJ,
-		},
-		{
-			.name = "log",
-			.type = REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_LOG,
-		},
-	};
-	struct reftable_block_source src = { 0 };
-	struct reftable_table *table = NULL;
-	struct table_iter ti = { 0 };
-	size_t i;
-	int err;
-
-	err = reftable_block_source_from_file(&src, tablename);
-	if (err < 0)
-		goto done;
-
-	err = reftable_table_new(&table, &src, tablename);
-	if (err < 0)
-		goto done;
-
-	table_iter_init(&ti, table);
-
-	printf("header:\n");
-	printf("  block_size: %d\n", table->block_size);
-
-	for (i = 0; i < sizeof(sections) / sizeof(*sections); i++) {
-		err = table_iter_seek_start(&ti, sections[i].type, 0);
-		if (err < 0)
-			goto done;
-		if (err > 0)
-			continue;
-
-		printf("%s:\n", sections[i].name);
-
-		while (1) {
-			printf("  - length: %u\n", ti.block.restart_off);
-			printf("    restarts: %u\n", ti.block.restart_count);
-
-			err = table_iter_next_block(&ti);
-			if (err < 0)
-				goto done;
-			if (err > 0)
-				break;
-		}
-	}
-
-done:
-	reftable_table_decref(table);
-	table_iter_close(&ti);
-	return err;
-}
-
 int reftable_table_iterator_init(struct reftable_table_iterator *it,
 				 struct reftable_table *t)
 {
diff --git a/t/helper/test-reftable.c b/t/helper/test-reftable.c
index f8f1956f4f..b16c0722c8 100644
--- a/t/helper/test-reftable.c
+++ b/t/helper/test-reftable.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include "hash.h"
 #include "hex.h"
 #include "reftable/system.h"
+#include "reftable/reftable-constants.h"
 #include "reftable/reftable-error.h"
 #include "reftable/reftable-merged.h"
 #include "reftable/reftable-stack.h"
@@ -20,6 +21,72 @@ static void print_help(void)
 	       "\n");
 }
 
+static int dump_blocks(const char *tablename)
+{
+	struct reftable_table_iterator ti = { 0 };
+	struct reftable_block_source src = { 0 };
+	struct reftable_table *table = NULL;
+	uint8_t section_type = 0;
+	int err;
+
+	err = reftable_block_source_from_file(&src, tablename);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto done;
+
+	err = reftable_table_new(&table, &src, tablename);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto done;
+
+	err = reftable_table_iterator_init(&ti, table);
+	if (err < 0)
+		goto done;
+
+	printf("header:\n");
+	printf("  block_size: %d\n", table->block_size);
+
+	while (1) {
+		const struct reftable_block *block;
+
+		err = reftable_table_iterator_next(&ti, &block);
+		if (err < 0)
+			goto done;
+		if (err > 0)
+			break;
+
+		if (block->block_type != section_type) {
+			const char *section;
+			switch (block->block_type) {
+			case REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_LOG:
+				section = "log";
+				break;
+			case REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_REF:
+				section = "ref";
+				break;
+			case REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_OBJ:
+				section = "obj";
+				break;
+			case REFTABLE_BLOCK_TYPE_INDEX:
+				section = "idx";
+				break;
+			default:
+				err = -1;
+				goto done;
+			}
+
+			section_type = block->block_type;
+			printf("%s:\n", section);
+		}
+
+		printf("  - length: %u\n", block->restart_off);
+		printf("    restarts: %u\n", block->restart_count);
+	}
+
+done:
+	reftable_table_iterator_release(&ti);
+	reftable_table_decref(table);
+	return err;
+}
+
 static int dump_table(struct reftable_merged_table *mt)
 {
 	struct reftable_iterator it = { NULL };
@@ -184,7 +251,7 @@ int cmd__dump_reftable(int argc, const char **argv)
 	arg = argv[1];
 
 	if (opt_dump_blocks) {
-		err = reftable_table_print_blocks(arg);
+		err = dump_blocks(arg);
 	} else if (opt_dump_table) {
 		err = dump_reftable(arg);
 	} else if (opt_dump_stack) {
diff --git a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
index e2708e11d5..e4c7461ce9 100755
--- a/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
+++ b/t/t0613-reftable-write-options.sh
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ test_expect_success 'many refs results in multiple blocks' '
 		    restarts: 3
 		  - length: 3289
 		    restarts: 3
+		idx:
+		  - length: 103
+		    restarts: 1
 		EOF
 		test-tool dump-reftable -b .git/reftable/*.ref >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual
@@ -241,6 +244,9 @@ test_expect_success 'object index gets written by default with ref index' '
 		    restarts: 1
 		  - length: 80
 		    restarts: 1
+		idx:
+		  - length: 55
+		    restarts: 2
 		obj:
 		  - length: 11
 		    restarts: 1
@@ -277,6 +283,9 @@ test_expect_success 'object index can be disabled' '
 		    restarts: 1
 		  - length: 80
 		    restarts: 1
+		idx:
+		  - length: 55
+		    restarts: 2
 		EOF
 		test-tool dump-reftable -b .git/reftable/*.ref >actual &&
 		test_cmp expect actual