diff --git a/deployments/charts/penumbra/.helmignore b/deployments/charts/penumbra/.helmignore
index d875727f8c..37ba378b66 100644
--- a/deployments/charts/penumbra/.helmignore
+++ b/deployments/charts/penumbra/.helmignore
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ pdcli/vals.json
 
 pdcli/.penumbra/testnet_data/node0/tendermint/data/
 pdcli/.penumbra/testnet_data/node0/tendermint/config/config.toml
+pdcli/.penumbra/testnet_data/node0/tendermint/config/genesis.json
 pdcli/.penumbra/testnet_data/node0/pd/
 
 pdcli/.penumbra/testnet_data/node1/tendermint/data/
diff --git a/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/fn-deployments.yaml b/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/fn-deployments.yaml
index 7b8e533e9b..0a5ebb047e 100644
--- a/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/fn-deployments.yaml
+++ b/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/fn-deployments.yaml
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ spec:
           configMap:
             name: {{ include "penumbra.fullname" $ }}-genesis-config
             items:
-              - key: "genesis.json"
-                path: "genesis.json"
+              - key: "genesis.json.gz"
+                path: "genesis.json.gz"
       initContainers:
         - name: pvc-ownership
           image: busybox
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ spec:
               mkdir $MERGE_DIR
               config-merge -f toml $CONFIG_DIR/config.toml $OVERLAY_DIR/config.toml > $MERGE_DIR/config.toml
               mv $MERGE_DIR/* $CONFIG_DIR/
-              cp /genesis/genesis.json $CONFIG_DIR/
+              gzip -d -c /genesis/genesis.json.gz > $CONFIG_DIR/genesis.json
           securityContext:
             runAsUser: 1025
             runAsGroup: 1025
diff --git a/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/genesis-config.yaml b/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/genesis-config.yaml
index 803e39f3f6..d592af63cf 100644
--- a/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/genesis-config.yaml
+++ b/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/genesis-config.yaml
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ metadata:
   labels:
     {{- include "penumbra.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
 binaryData:
-{{ $path := "pdcli/.penumbra/testnet_data/node0/tendermint/config/genesis.json" }}
-{{- "genesis.json" | indent 2 }}{{ print ": "}}{{ $.Files.Get $path | b64enc -}}
+{{ $path := "pdcli/genesis.json.gz" }}
+{{- "genesis.json.gz" | indent 2 }}{{ print ": "}}{{ $.Files.Get $path | b64enc -}}
diff --git a/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/val-deployments.yaml b/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/val-deployments.yaml
index 19c66b33f5..a132aa7d0f 100644
--- a/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/val-deployments.yaml
+++ b/deployments/charts/penumbra/templates/val-deployments.yaml
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ spec:
           configMap:
             name: {{ include "penumbra.fullname" $ }}-genesis-config
             items:
-              - key: "genesis.json"
-                path: "genesis.json"
+              - key: "genesis.json.gz"
+                path: "genesis.json.gz"
         - name: val-secrets
           secret:
             secretName: {{ include "penumbra.fullname" $ }}-val-secrets-{{$i}}
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ spec:
               mkdir $MERGE_DIR
               config-merge -f toml $CONFIG_DIR/config.toml $OVERLAY_DIR/config.toml > $MERGE_DIR/config.toml
               mv $MERGE_DIR/* $CONFIG_DIR/
-              cp /genesis/genesis.json $CONFIG_DIR/
+              gzip -d -c /genesis/genesis.json.gz > $CONFIG_DIR/genesis.json
               cp /val/priv_validator_key.json $CONFIG_DIR/
               cp /val/node_key.json $CONFIG_DIR/
               cp /val/validator_custody.json $CONFIG_DIR/
diff --git a/deployments/ci.sh b/deployments/ci.sh
index 2e9c257877..12de511e52 100755
--- a/deployments/ci.sh
+++ b/deployments/ci.sh
@@ -90,6 +90,11 @@ function create_genesis() {
         $preserve_chain_opt \
         --validators-input-file "${CONTAINERHOME}/vals.json" > /dev/null
 
+    # Compress the genesis file, otherwise the Helm manifest will exceed the 1MB
+    # secret limit. See GH1783.
+    gzip -c "${WORKDIR}/.penumbra/testnet_data/node0/tendermint/config/genesis.json" \
+        > "${WORKDIR}/genesis.json.gz"
+
     # Clear out persistent peers. Will peer after services are bootstrapped.
     # The Helm chart requires that these local flat files exist, but we cannot
     # populate them with external IPs just yet. Make sure they're present,