diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 368fe0e59646..d70cc31b831d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 * (x/staking/keeper) [#18035](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/18035) Hoisted out of the redelegation loop, the non-changing validator and delegator addresses parsing.
 * (keyring) [#17913](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/17913) Add `NewAutoCLIKeyring` for creating an AutoCLI keyring from a SDK keyring.
+* (x/consensus) [#18041](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/18041) Let `ToProtoConsensusParams()` return an error.
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 
diff --git a/x/consensus/keeper/keeper.go b/x/consensus/keeper/keeper.go
index 6155f7130ec5..52dfd6740f6c 100644
--- a/x/consensus/keeper/keeper.go
+++ b/x/consensus/keeper/keeper.go
@@ -68,7 +68,10 @@ func (k Keeper) UpdateParams(ctx context.Context, msg *types.MsgUpdateParams) (*
 		return nil, errors.Wrapf(govtypes.ErrInvalidSigner, "invalid authority; expected %s, got %s", k.GetAuthority(), msg.Authority)
 	}
 
-	consensusParams := msg.ToProtoConsensusParams()
+	consensusParams, err := msg.ToProtoConsensusParams()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
 	if err := cmttypes.ConsensusParamsFromProto(consensusParams).ValidateBasic(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/x/consensus/keeper/keeper_test.go b/x/consensus/keeper/keeper_test.go
index 6c36b1c45eeb..ce95158652bd 100644
--- a/x/consensus/keeper/keeper_test.go
+++ b/x/consensus/keeper/keeper_test.go
@@ -171,6 +171,39 @@ func (s *KeeperTestSuite) TestUpdateParams() {
 			expErr:    true,
 			expErrMsg: "invalid authority",
 		},
+		{
+			name: "nil evidence params",
+			input: &types.MsgUpdateParams{
+				Authority: s.consensusParamsKeeper.GetAuthority(),
+				Block:     defaultConsensusParams.Block,
+				Validator: defaultConsensusParams.Validator,
+				Evidence:  nil,
+			},
+			expErr:    true,
+			expErrMsg: "all parameters must be present",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nil block params",
+			input: &types.MsgUpdateParams{
+				Authority: s.consensusParamsKeeper.GetAuthority(),
+				Block:     nil,
+				Validator: defaultConsensusParams.Validator,
+				Evidence:  defaultConsensusParams.Evidence,
+			},
+			expErr:    true,
+			expErrMsg: "all parameters must be present",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nil validator params",
+			input: &types.MsgUpdateParams{
+				Authority: s.consensusParamsKeeper.GetAuthority(),
+				Block:     defaultConsensusParams.Block,
+				Validator: nil,
+				Evidence:  defaultConsensusParams.Evidence,
+			},
+			expErr:    true,
+			expErrMsg: "all parameters must be present",
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
diff --git a/x/consensus/types/msgs.go b/x/consensus/types/msgs.go
index 64307f4c3c9d..b62c0052f7cb 100644
--- a/x/consensus/types/msgs.go
+++ b/x/consensus/types/msgs.go
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 package types
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+
 	cmtproto "github.com/cometbft/cometbft/proto/tendermint/types"
 	cmttypes "github.com/cometbft/cometbft/types"
 
@@ -9,7 +11,11 @@ import (
 
 var _ sdk.Msg = &MsgUpdateParams{}
 
-func (msg MsgUpdateParams) ToProtoConsensusParams() cmtproto.ConsensusParams {
+func (msg MsgUpdateParams) ToProtoConsensusParams() (cmtproto.ConsensusParams, error) {
+	if msg.Evidence == nil || msg.Block == nil || msg.Validator == nil {
+		return cmtproto.ConsensusParams{}, errors.New("all parameters must be present")
+	}
+
 	cp := cmtproto.ConsensusParams{
 		Block: &cmtproto.BlockParams{
 			MaxBytes: msg.Block.MaxBytes,
@@ -32,5 +38,5 @@ func (msg MsgUpdateParams) ToProtoConsensusParams() cmtproto.ConsensusParams {
 		}
 	}
 
-	return cp
+	return cp, nil
 }