diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils.go
index e53bad4b6d6..cd12e4cc9e5 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils.go
@@ -35,10 +35,9 @@ import (
 const (
 	vreplicationLogTableName = "vreplication_log"
 	// This comes from the fact that the message column in the vreplication_log table is of type TEXT.
-	// See: go/vt/sidecardb/schema/vreplication/vreplication_log.sql
-	// https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/en/string-type-syntax.html and
-	// https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/en/storage-requirements.html#data-types-storage-reqs-strings
 	maxVReplicationLogMessageLen = 65535
+	// This comes from the fact that the message column in the vreplication table is varbinary(1000).
+	maxVReplicationMessageLen = 1000
 )
 
 // vrepliationLogTruncationStr is the string that is used to indicate that a message has been
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils_test.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils_test.go
index ed312146fd5..5eb9d7ddd34 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils_test.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/utils_test.go
@@ -76,9 +76,12 @@ func TestInsertLogTruncation(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 	for _, tc := range tests {
 		t.Run("insertLog", func(t *testing.T) {
-			var messageOut string
+			var (
+				messageOut string
+				err        error
+			)
 			if tc.expectTruncation {
-				messageOut, err := textutil.TruncateText(tc.message, maxVReplicationLogMessageLen, textutil.TruncationLocationMiddle, vreplicationLogTruncationStr)
+				messageOut, err = textutil.TruncateText(tc.message, maxVReplicationLogMessageLen, textutil.TruncationLocationMiddle, vreplicationLogTruncationStr)
 				require.NoError(t, err)
 				require.True(t, strings.HasPrefix(messageOut, tc.message[:1024]))                 // Confirm we still have the same beginning
 				require.True(t, strings.HasSuffix(messageOut, tc.message[len(tc.message)-1024:])) // Confirm we still have the same end
diff --git a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/vreplicator.go b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/vreplicator.go
index 67496ca37f9..224a1141d77 100644
--- a/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/vreplicator.go
+++ b/go/vt/vttablet/tabletmanager/vreplication/vreplicator.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql/replication"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/mysql/sqlerror"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/sqltypes"
+	"vitess.io/vitess/go/textutil"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/timer"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/binlog/binlogplayer"
 	"vitess.io/vitess/go/vt/log"
@@ -450,8 +451,11 @@ func (vr *vreplicator) readSettings(ctx context.Context, dbClient *vdbClient) (s
 	return settings, numTablesToCopy, nil
 }
 
-func (vr *vreplicator) setMessage(message string) error {
-	message = binlogplayer.MessageTruncate(message)
+func (vr *vreplicator) setMessage(message string) (err error) {
+	message, err = textutil.TruncateText(message, maxVReplicationMessageLen, textutil.TruncationLocationMiddle, vreplicationLogTruncationStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	vr.stats.History.Add(&binlogplayer.StatsHistoryRecord{
 		Time:    time.Now(),
 		Message: message,