diff --git a/x/distribution/client/cli/tx.go b/x/distribution/client/cli/tx.go
index ccbf5d8c6dbb..e54ee4cf76c8 100644
--- a/x/distribution/client/cli/tx.go
+++ b/x/distribution/client/cli/tx.go
@@ -52,13 +52,12 @@ func newSplitAndApply(
 	genOrBroadcastFn newGenerateOrBroadcastFunc, clientCtx client.Context,
 	fs *pflag.FlagSet, msgs []sdk.Msg, chunkSize int,
 ) error {
-
-	if chunkSize == 0 {
+	totalMessages := len(msgs)
+	if chunkSize == 0 || totalMessages == 0 {
 		return genOrBroadcastFn(clientCtx, fs, msgs...)
 	}
 
 	// split messages into slices of length chunkSize
-	totalMessages := len(msgs)
 	for i := 0; i < len(msgs); i += chunkSize {
 
 		sliceEnd := i + chunkSize
diff --git a/x/distribution/client/cli/tx_test.go b/x/distribution/client/cli/tx_test.go
index 7176c6bf9578..27f41392cb34 100644
--- a/x/distribution/client/cli/tx_test.go
+++ b/x/distribution/client/cli/tx_test.go
@@ -21,8 +21,19 @@ import (
 func Test_splitAndCall_NoMessages(t *testing.T) {
 	clientCtx := client.Context{}
 
-	err := newSplitAndApply(nil, clientCtx, nil, nil, 10)
-	assert.NoError(t, err, "")
+	// empty tx will always trigger genOrBroadcastFn
+	maxMsgsCases := []int{0, 1, 10}
+	calledCounter := 0
+	for _, maxMsgs := range maxMsgsCases {
+		err := newSplitAndApply(
+			func(clientCtx client.Context, fs *pflag.FlagSet, msgs ...sdk.Msg) error {
+				// dummy genOrBroadcastFn called once for each case
+				calledCounter++
+				return nil
+			}, clientCtx, nil, nil, maxMsgs)
+		assert.NoError(t, err, "")
+	}
+	assert.Equal(t, calledCounter, len(maxMsgsCases))
 }
 
 func Test_splitAndCall_Splitting(t *testing.T) {