diff --git a/snappy.zig b/snappy.zig
index bcc2c48..f01b0c8 100644
--- a/snappy.zig
+++ b/snappy.zig
@@ -261,23 +261,32 @@ pub fn decode(allocator: Allocator, src: []const u8) ![]u8 {
 // TODO: Split up encode and decode into separate files once I better understand modules.
 fn emitLiteral(dst: []u8, lit: []const u8) usize {
     var i: usize = 0;
-    const n = @as(usize, @intCast(lit.len - 1));
-    switch (n) {
-        0...59 => {
-            dst[0] = @as(u8, @intCast(n)) << 2 | tagLiteral;
-            i = 1;
-        },
-        60...255 => {
-            dst[0] = 60 << 2 | tagLiteral;
-            dst[1] = @as(u8, @intCast(n));
-            i = 2;
-        },
-        else => {
-            dst[0] = 61 << 2 | tagLiteral;
-            dst[1] = @as(u8, @truncate(n));
-            dst[2] = @as(u8, @truncate(n >> 8));
-            i = 3;
-        },
+    const n = @as(u32, @intCast(lit.len - 1));
+    if (n < 60) {
+        dst[0] = @as(u8, @intCast(n)) << 2 | tagLiteral;
+        i = 1;
+    } else if (n < (1 << 8)) {
+        dst[0] = 60 << 2 | tagLiteral;
+        dst[1] = @as(u8, @intCast(n));
+        i = 2;
+    } else if (n < (1 << 16)) {
+        dst[0] = 61 << 2 | tagLiteral;
+        dst[1] = @as(u8, @intCast(n & 0xff));
+        dst[2] = @as(u8, @intCast(n >> 8));
+        i = 3;
+    } else if (n < (1 << 24)) {
+        dst[0] = 62 << 2 | tagLiteral;
+        dst[1] = @as(u8, @intCast(n & 0xff));
+        dst[2] = @as(u8, @intCast((n >> 8) & 0xff));
+        dst[3] = @as(u8, @intCast(n >> 16));
+        i = 4;
+    } else {
+        dst[0] = 63 << 2 | tagLiteral;
+        dst[1] = @as(u8, @intCast(n & 0xff));
+        dst[2] = @as(u8, @intCast((n >> 8) & 0xff));
+        dst[3] = @as(u8, @intCast((n >> 16) & 0xff));
+        dst[4] = @as(u8, @intCast(n >> 24));
+        i = 5;
     }
     std.mem.copyForwards(u8, dst[i..], lit);
 
@@ -499,3 +508,42 @@ test "simple decode" {
 
     try testing.expectEqualSlices(u8, decoded, "oh snap, snappy is cool!\n");
 }
+
+test "emit literal length > 255" {
+    var lit: [300]u8 = undefined;
+    for (&lit, 0..) |*b, i| {
+        b.* = @as(u8, @truncate(i * 31 + 7));
+    }
+
+    var dst: [320]u8 = undefined;
+    const written = emitLiteral(&dst, &lit);
+
+    const n: u32 = lit.len - 1;
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 3 + lit.len), written);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 61 << 2 | tagLiteral), dst[0]);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, @intCast(n & 0xff)), dst[1]);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, @intCast(n >> 8)), dst[2]);
+    try testing.expectEqualSlices(u8, lit[0..], dst[3 .. 3 + lit.len]);
+}
+
+test "emit literal length > 65535" {
+    const allocator = testing.allocator;
+    const lit_len: usize = 70000;
+    var lit = try allocator.alloc(u8, lit_len);
+    defer allocator.free(lit);
+    for (lit, 0..) |*b, i| {
+        b.* = @as(u8, @truncate(i * 13 + 5));
+    }
+
+    const n: u32 = @as(u32, @intCast(lit.len - 1));
+    var dst = try allocator.alloc(u8, 4 + lit.len);
+    defer allocator.free(dst);
+    const written = emitLiteral(dst, lit);
+
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(usize, 4 + lit.len), written);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, 62 << 2 | tagLiteral), dst[0]);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, @intCast(n & 0xff)), dst[1]);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, @intCast((n >> 8) & 0xff)), dst[2]);
+    try testing.expectEqual(@as(u8, @intCast(n >> 16)), dst[3]);
+    try testing.expectEqualSlices(u8, lit[0..], dst[4 .. 4 + lit.len]);
+}