diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8090d058e60f..abde89f98759 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 
 * (deps) [#16565](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16565) Bump CometBFT to [v0.37.2](https://github.com/cometbft/cometbft/blob/v0.37.2/CHANGELOG.md).
 
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* (x/auth) [#16554](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16554) `ModuleAccount.Validate` now reports a nil `.BaseAccount` instead of panicking.
+
 ## [v0.47.3](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/releases/tag/v0.47.3) - 2023-06-08
 
 ### Features
diff --git a/x/auth/types/account.go b/x/auth/types/account.go
index 313b563b98ac..fbdef4e89257 100644
--- a/x/auth/types/account.go
+++ b/x/auth/types/account.go
@@ -236,6 +236,10 @@ 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 d465ed852568..74ab5784b199 100644
--- a/x/auth/types/account_test.go
+++ b/x/auth/types/account_test.go
@@ -228,3 +228,8 @@ func TestNewModuleAddressOrBech32Address(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Equal(t, input, types.NewModuleAddressOrBech32Address(input).String())
 	require.Equal(t, "cosmos1jv65s3grqf6v6jl3dp4t6c9t9rk99cd88lyufl", types.NewModuleAddressOrBech32Address("distribution").String())
 }
+
+func TestModuleAccountValidateNilBaseAccount(t *testing.T) {
+	ma := &types.ModuleAccount{Name: "foo"}
+	_ = ma.Validate()
+}