diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2bf0544ddf5d..00b05e5cc3a6 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 * (deps) [#16553](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16553) Bump CometBFT to [v0.34.29](https://github.com/cometbft/cometbft/blob/v0.34.29/CHANGELOG.md#v03429).
 
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* (x/auth) [#16554](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16554) `ModuleAccount.Validate` now reports a nil `.BaseAccount` instead of panicking.
+
 ## [v0.46.13-alpha.ledger.8](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/releases/tag/v0.46.13-alpha.ledger.8)
 
 ### Improvements
diff --git a/x/auth/types/account.go b/x/auth/types/account.go
index 104fe0e4d333..36f043d80244 100644
--- a/x/auth/types/account.go
+++ b/x/auth/types/account.go
@@ -225,6 +225,10 @@ func (ma ModuleAccount) Validate() error {
 		return errors.New("module account name cannot be blank")
 	}
 
+	if ma.BaseAccount == nil {
+		return errors.New("uninitialized ModuleAccount: BaseAccount is nil")
+	}
+
 	if ma.Address != sdk.AccAddress(crypto.AddressHash([]byte(ma.Name))).String() {
 		return fmt.Errorf("address %s cannot be derived from the module name '%s'", ma.Address, ma.Name)
 	}
diff --git a/x/auth/types/account_test.go b/x/auth/types/account_test.go
index ad24595c3fcf..3cdeaae6fb8d 100644
--- a/x/auth/types/account_test.go
+++ b/x/auth/types/account_test.go
@@ -209,3 +209,8 @@ func TestGenesisAccountsContains(t *testing.T) {
 	genAccounts = append(genAccounts, acc)
 	require.True(t, genAccounts.Contains(acc.GetAddress()))
 }
+
+func TestModuleAccountValidateNilBaseAccount(t *testing.T) {
+	ma := &types.ModuleAccount{Name: "foo"}
+	_ = ma.Validate()
+}