diff --git a/internal/p2p/channel.go b/internal/p2p/channel.go
index 8e6774612..d3d7d104f 100644
--- a/internal/p2p/channel.go
+++ b/internal/p2p/channel.go
@@ -59,25 +59,17 @@ type Channel struct {
 	outCh chan<- Envelope  // outbound messages (reactors to peers)
 	errCh chan<- PeerError // peer error reporting
 
-	messageType proto.Message // the channel's message type, used for unmarshaling
-	name        string
+	name string
 }
 
 // NewChannel creates a new channel. It is primarily for internal and test
 // use, reactors should use Router.OpenChannel().
-func NewChannel(
-	id ChannelID,
-	messageType proto.Message,
-	inCh <-chan Envelope,
-	outCh chan<- Envelope,
-	errCh chan<- PeerError,
-) *Channel {
+func NewChannel(id ChannelID, inCh <-chan Envelope, outCh chan<- Envelope, errCh chan<- PeerError) *Channel {
 	return &Channel{
-		ID:          id,
-		messageType: messageType,
-		inCh:        inCh,
-		outCh:       outCh,
-		errCh:       errCh,
+		ID:    id,
+		inCh:  inCh,
+		outCh: outCh,
+		errCh: errCh,
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/p2p/pex/reactor_test.go b/internal/p2p/pex/reactor_test.go
index f2132fbba..ec2f03d83 100644
--- a/internal/p2p/pex/reactor_test.go
+++ b/internal/p2p/pex/reactor_test.go
@@ -289,7 +289,6 @@ func setupSingle(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) *singleTestReactor {
 	pexErrCh := make(chan p2p.PeerError, chBuf)
 	pexCh := p2p.NewChannel(
 		p2p.ChannelID(pex.PexChannel),
-		new(p2pproto.PexMessage),
 		pexInCh,
 		pexOutCh,
 		pexErrCh,
diff --git a/internal/p2p/router.go b/internal/p2p/router.go
index df096dbb6..459be7975 100644
--- a/internal/p2p/router.go
+++ b/internal/p2p/router.go
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ func (r *Router) OpenChannel(ctx context.Context, chDesc *ChannelDescriptor) (*C
 	queue := r.queueFactory(chDesc.RecvBufferCapacity)
 	outCh := make(chan Envelope, chDesc.RecvBufferCapacity)
 	errCh := make(chan PeerError, chDesc.RecvBufferCapacity)
-	channel := NewChannel(id, messageType, queue.dequeue(), outCh, errCh)
+	channel := NewChannel(id, queue.dequeue(), outCh, errCh)
 	channel.name = chDesc.Name
 
 	var wrapper Wrapper
diff --git a/internal/statesync/dispatcher_test.go b/internal/statesync/dispatcher_test.go
index 65c517be4..8ec074bd1 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/dispatcher_test.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/dispatcher_test.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ func testChannel(size int) (*channelInternal, *p2p.Channel) {
 		Out:   make(chan p2p.Envelope, size),
 		Error: make(chan p2p.PeerError, size),
 	}
-	return in, p2p.NewChannel(0, nil, in.In, in.Out, in.Error)
+	return in, p2p.NewChannel(0, in.In, in.Out, in.Error)
 }
 
 func TestDispatcherBasic(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go b/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go
index c6b2c2d2b..55a9fcf8c 100644
--- a/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go
+++ b/internal/statesync/reactor_test.go
@@ -102,7 +102,6 @@ func setup(
 
 	rts.snapshotChannel = p2p.NewChannel(
 		SnapshotChannel,
-		new(ssproto.Message),
 		rts.snapshotInCh,
 		rts.snapshotOutCh,
 		rts.snapshotPeerErrCh,
@@ -110,7 +109,6 @@ func setup(
 
 	rts.chunkChannel = p2p.NewChannel(
 		ChunkChannel,
-		new(ssproto.Message),
 		rts.chunkInCh,
 		rts.chunkOutCh,
 		rts.chunkPeerErrCh,
@@ -118,7 +116,6 @@ func setup(
 
 	rts.blockChannel = p2p.NewChannel(
 		LightBlockChannel,
-		new(ssproto.Message),
 		rts.blockInCh,
 		rts.blockOutCh,
 		rts.blockPeerErrCh,
@@ -126,7 +123,6 @@ func setup(
 
 	rts.paramsChannel = p2p.NewChannel(
 		ParamsChannel,
-		new(ssproto.Message),
 		rts.paramsInCh,
 		rts.paramsOutCh,
 		rts.paramsPeerErrCh,