diff --git a/internal/consensus/state.go b/internal/consensus/state.go
index 4646426a6..4adc00fa7 100644
--- a/internal/consensus/state.go
+++ b/internal/consensus/state.go
@@ -2413,14 +2413,14 @@ func repairWalFile(src, dst string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// proposerWaitUntil determines when the proposer should propose its next block
+// proposerWaitTime determines how long the proposer should wait to propose its next block.
 // Block times must be monotonically increasing, so if the block time of the previous
 // block is larger than the proposer's current time, then the proposer will sleep
 // until its local clock exceeds the previous block time.
-func proposerWaitUntil(lt tmtime.Source, h types.Header) time.Time {
+func proposerWaitTime(lt tmtime.Source, h types.Header) time.Duration {
 	t := lt.Now()
 	if t.After(h.Time) {
-		return t
+		return 0
 	}
-	return h.Time
+	return h.Time.Sub(t)
 }
diff --git a/internal/consensus/state_test.go b/internal/consensus/state_test.go
index 767f5defc..f0b193422 100644
--- a/internal/consensus/state_test.go
+++ b/internal/consensus/state_test.go
@@ -2448,25 +2448,25 @@ func TestProposerWaitUntil(t *testing.T) {
 		name         string
 		blockTime    time.Time
 		localTime    time.Time
-		expectedTime time.Time
+		expectedWait time.Duration
 	}{
 		{
 			name:         "block time greater than local time",
 			blockTime:    genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
 			localTime:    genesisTime.Add(1 * time.Nanosecond),
-			expectedTime: genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
+			expectedWait: 4 * time.Nanosecond,
 		},
 		{
 			name:         "local time greater than block time",
 			blockTime:    genesisTime.Add(1 * time.Nanosecond),
 			localTime:    genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
-			expectedTime: genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
+			expectedWait: 0,
 		},
 		{
 			name:         "both times equal",
 			blockTime:    genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
 			localTime:    genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
-			expectedTime: genesisTime.Add(5 * time.Nanosecond),
+			expectedWait: 0,
 		},
 	}
 	for _, testCase := range testCases {
@@ -2480,8 +2480,8 @@ func TestProposerWaitUntil(t *testing.T) {
 			mockSource := new(tmtimemocks.Source)
 			mockSource.On("Now").Return(testCase.localTime)
 
-			ti := proposerWaitUntil(mockSource, b.Header)
-			assert.Equal(t, testCase.expectedTime, ti)
+			ti := proposerWaitTime(mockSource, b.Header)
+			assert.Equal(t, testCase.expectedWait, ti)
 		})
 	}
 }