diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/colorLib/builder.py b/Lib/fontTools/colorLib/builder.py
index 56a048de9..998ab60d1 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/colorLib/builder.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/colorLib/builder.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import collections
 import copy
 import enum
 from functools import partial
+from math import ceil, log
 from typing import (
     Any,
     Dict,
@@ -632,7 +633,10 @@ class LayerV1ListBuilder:
         ot_paint.Format = int(ot.Paint.Format.PaintColrLayers)
         self.slices.append(ot_paint)
 
-        paints = [self.buildPaint(p) for p in paints]
+        paints = [
+            self.buildPaint(p)
+            for p in _build_n_ary_tree(paints, n=MAX_PAINT_COLR_LAYER_COUNT)
+        ]
 
         # Look for reuse, with preference to longer sequences
         found_reuse = True
@@ -776,3 +780,45 @@ def buildColrV1(
     glyphs.BaseGlyphCount = len(baseGlyphs)
     glyphs.BaseGlyphV1Record = baseGlyphs
     return (layers, glyphs)
+
+
+def _build_n_ary_tree(leaves, n):
+    """Build N-ary tree from sequence of leaf nodes.
+
+    Return a list of lists where each non-leaf node is a list containing
+    max n nodes.
+    """
+    if not leaves:
+        return []
+
+    assert n > 1
+
+    depth = ceil(log(len(leaves), n))
+
+    if depth <= 1:
+        return list(leaves)
+
+    # Fully populate complete subtrees of root until we have enough leaves left
+    root = []
+    unassigned = None
+    full_step = n ** (depth - 1)
+    for i in range(0, len(leaves), full_step):
+        subtree = leaves[i : i + full_step]
+        if len(subtree) < full_step:
+            unassigned = subtree
+            break
+        while len(subtree) > n:
+            subtree = [subtree[k : k + n] for k in range(0, len(subtree), n)]
+        root.append(subtree)
+
+    if unassigned:
+        # Recurse to fill the last subtree, which is the only partially populated one
+        subtree = _build_n_ary_tree(unassigned, n)
+        if len(subtree) <= n - len(root):
+            # replace last subtree with its children if they can still fit
+            root.extend(subtree)
+        else:
+            root.append(subtree)
+        assert len(root) <= n
+
+    return root
diff --git a/Tests/colorLib/builder_test.py b/Tests/colorLib/builder_test.py
index 003e53d97..75aacfb1e 100644
--- a/Tests/colorLib/builder_test.py
+++ b/Tests/colorLib/builder_test.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ from fontTools.ttLib import newTable
 from fontTools.ttLib.tables import otTables as ot
 from fontTools.colorLib import builder
 from fontTools.colorLib.geometry import round_start_circle_stable_containment, Circle
-from fontTools.colorLib.builder import LayerV1ListBuilder
+from fontTools.colorLib.builder import LayerV1ListBuilder, _build_n_ary_tree
 from fontTools.colorLib.errors import ColorLibError
 import pytest
 from typing import List
@@ -1105,3 +1105,81 @@ class TrickyRadialGradientTest:
     )
     def test_nudge_start_circle_position(self, c0, r0, c1, r1, inside, expected):
         assert self.round_start_circle(c0, r0, c1, r1, inside) == expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "lst, n, expected",
+    [
+        ([0], 2, [0]),
+        ([0, 1], 2, [0, 1]),
+        ([0, 1, 2], 2, [[0, 1], 2]),
+        ([0, 1, 2], 3, [0, 1, 2]),
+        ([0, 1, 2, 3], 2, [[0, 1], [2, 3]]),
+        ([0, 1, 2, 3], 3, [[0, 1, 2], 3]),
+        ([0, 1, 2, 3, 4], 3, [[0, 1, 2], 3, 4]),
+        ([0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5], 3, [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5]]),
+        (list(range(7)), 3, [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], 6]),
+        (list(range(8)), 3, [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7]]),
+        (list(range(9)), 3, [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]]),
+        (list(range(10)), 3, [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], 9]),
+        (list(range(11)), 3, [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], 9, 10]),
+        (list(range(12)), 3, [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], [9, 10, 11]]),
+        (list(range(13)), 3, [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], [9, 10, 11], 12]),
+        (
+            list(range(14)),
+            3,
+            [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], [[9, 10, 11], 12, 13]],
+        ),
+        (
+            list(range(15)),
+            3,
+            [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], [9, 10, 11], [12, 13, 14]],
+        ),
+        (
+            list(range(16)),
+            3,
+            [[[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]], [[9, 10, 11], [12, 13, 14], 15]],
+        ),
+        (
+            list(range(23)),
+            3,
+            [
+                [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]],
+                [[9, 10, 11], [12, 13, 14], [15, 16, 17]],
+                [[18, 19, 20], 21, 22],
+            ],
+        ),
+        (
+            list(range(27)),
+            3,
+            [
+                [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]],
+                [[9, 10, 11], [12, 13, 14], [15, 16, 17]],
+                [[18, 19, 20], [21, 22, 23], [24, 25, 26]],
+            ],
+        ),
+        (
+            list(range(28)),
+            3,
+            [
+                [
+                    [[0, 1, 2], [3, 4, 5], [6, 7, 8]],
+                    [[9, 10, 11], [12, 13, 14], [15, 16, 17]],
+                    [[18, 19, 20], [21, 22, 23], [24, 25, 26]],
+                ],
+                27,
+            ],
+        ),
+        (list(range(257)), 256, [list(range(256)), 256]),
+        (list(range(258)), 256, [list(range(256)), 256, 257]),
+        (list(range(512)), 256, [list(range(256)), list(range(256, 512))]),
+        (list(range(512 + 1)), 256, [list(range(256)), list(range(256, 512)), 512]),
+        (
+            list(range(256 ** 2)),
+            256,
+            [list(range(k * 256, k * 256 + 256)) for k in range(256)],
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_build_n_ary_tree(lst, n, expected):
+    assert _build_n_ary_tree(lst, n) == expected