diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index c39b78551..b84243302 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ Friendly reminder, we have a [bug bounty program](https://hackerone.com/tendermi
 - [consensus] \#5987 Remove `time_iota_ms` from consensus params. Merge `tmproto.ConsensusParams` and `abci.ConsensusParams`. (@marbar3778)
 - [types] \#5994 Reduce the use of protobuf types in core logic. (@marbar3778)
   - `ConsensusParams`, `BlockParams`, `ValidatorParams`, `EvidenceParams`, `VersionParams`, `sm.Version` and `version.Consensus` have become native types. They still utilize protobuf when being sent over the wire or written to disk.
+- [node] \#6059 Validate and complete genesis doc before saving to state store (@silasdavis)
 
 ### BUG FIXES
 
diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index ed1bb20fe..69e92d4a4 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -1650,6 +1650,11 @@ func LoadStateFromDBOrGenesisDocProvider(
 		if err != nil {
 			return sm.State{}, nil, err
 		}
+
+		err = genDoc.ValidateAndComplete()
+		if err != nil {
+			return sm.State{}, nil, fmt.Errorf("error in genesis doc: %w", err)
+		}
 		// save genesis doc to prevent a certain class of user errors (e.g. when it
 		// was changed, accidentally or not). Also good for audit trail.
 		if err := saveGenesisDoc(stateDB, genDoc); err != nil {
diff --git a/state/state.go b/state/state.go
index 430dbf88b..80d337e88 100644
--- a/state/state.go
+++ b/state/state.go
@@ -337,7 +337,7 @@ func MakeGenesisDocFromFile(genDocFile string) (*types.GenesisDoc, error) {
 func MakeGenesisState(genDoc *types.GenesisDoc) (State, error) {
 	err := genDoc.ValidateAndComplete()
 	if err != nil {
-		return State{}, fmt.Errorf("error in genesis file: %v", err)
+		return State{}, fmt.Errorf("error in genesis doc: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	var validatorSet, nextValidatorSet *types.ValidatorSet