diff --git a/types/vote.go b/types/vote.go
index f7006b8cd..821a63018 100644
--- a/types/vote.go
+++ b/types/vote.go
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	nilVoteStr string = "nil-Vote"
+	absentVoteStr string = "Vote{absent}"
+	nilVoteStr    string = "nil"
 
 	// The maximum supported number of bytes in a vote extension.
 	MaxVoteExtensionSize int = 1024 * 1024
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ func (vote *Vote) Copy() *Vote {
 // 10. timestamp
 func (vote *Vote) String() string {
 	if vote == nil {
-		return nilVoteStr
+		return absentVoteStr
 	}
 
 	var typeString string
@@ -202,16 +203,22 @@ func (vote *Vote) String() string {
 		panic("Unknown vote type")
 	}
 
-	return fmt.Sprintf("Vote{%v:%X %v/%02d/%v(%v) %X %X %X @ %s}",
+	var blockHashString string
+	if len(vote.BlockID.Hash) > 0 {
+		blockHashString = fmt.Sprintf("%X", tmbytes.Fingerprint(vote.BlockID.Hash))
+	} else {
+		blockHashString = nilVoteStr
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("Vote{%v:%X %v/%d %s %s %X %d @ %s}",
 		vote.ValidatorIndex,
 		tmbytes.Fingerprint(vote.ValidatorAddress),
 		vote.Height,
 		vote.Round,
-		vote.Type,
 		typeString,
-		tmbytes.Fingerprint(vote.BlockID.Hash),
+		blockHashString,
 		tmbytes.Fingerprint(vote.Signature),
-		tmbytes.Fingerprint(vote.Extension),
+		len(vote.Extension),
 		CanonicalTime(vote.Timestamp),
 	)
 }
diff --git a/types/vote_set.go b/types/vote_set.go
index 6d83ac85d..7ca69f302 100644
--- a/types/vote_set.go
+++ b/types/vote_set.go
@@ -505,7 +505,7 @@ func (voteSet *VoteSet) StringIndented(indent string) string {
 	voteStrings := make([]string, len(voteSet.votes))
 	for i, vote := range voteSet.votes {
 		if vote == nil {
-			voteStrings[i] = nilVoteStr
+			voteStrings[i] = absentVoteStr
 		} else {
 			voteStrings[i] = vote.String()
 		}
@@ -570,7 +570,7 @@ func (voteSet *VoteSet) voteStrings() []string {
 	voteStrings := make([]string, len(voteSet.votes))
 	for i, vote := range voteSet.votes {
 		if vote == nil {
-			voteStrings[i] = nilVoteStr
+			voteStrings[i] = absentVoteStr
 		} else {
 			voteStrings[i] = vote.String()
 		}
diff --git a/types/vote_test.go b/types/vote_test.go
index d0819d7c4..917de2e4b 100644
--- a/types/vote_test.go
+++ b/types/vote_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package types
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -16,6 +17,22 @@ import (
 	tmproto "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/types"
 )
 
+const (
+	//nolint: lll
+	preCommitTestStr = `Vote{56789:6AF1F4111082 12345/2 Precommit 8B01023386C3 000000000000 0 @ 2017-12-25T03:00:01.234Z}`
+	//nolint: lll
+	preVoteTestStr = `Vote{56789:6AF1F4111082 12345/2 Prevote 8B01023386C3 000000000000 0 @ 2017-12-25T03:00:01.234Z}`
+)
+
+var (
+	// nolint: lll
+	nilVoteTestStr                = fmt.Sprintf(`Vote{56789:6AF1F4111082 12345/2 Precommit %s 000000000000 0 @ 2017-12-25T03:00:01.234Z}`, nilVoteStr)
+	formatNonEmptyVoteExtensionFn = func(voteExtensionLength int) string {
+		// nolint: lll
+		return fmt.Sprintf(`Vote{56789:6AF1F4111082 12345/2 Precommit 8B01023386C3 000000000000 %d @ 2017-12-25T03:00:01.234Z}`, voteExtensionLength)
+	}
+)
+
 func examplePrevote(t *testing.T) *Vote {
 	t.Helper()
 	return exampleVote(t, byte(tmproto.PrevoteType))
@@ -321,16 +338,43 @@ func TestVoteVerify(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestVoteString(t *testing.T) {
-	str := examplePrecommit(t).String()
-	expected := `Vote{56789:6AF1F4111082 12345/02/SIGNED_MSG_TYPE_PRECOMMIT(Precommit) 8B01023386C3 000000000000 000000000000 @ 2017-12-25T03:00:01.234Z}` //nolint:lll //ignore line length for tests
-	if str != expected {
-		t.Errorf("got unexpected string for Vote. Expected:\n%v\nGot:\n%v", expected, str)
+	testcases := map[string]struct {
+		vote           *Vote
+		expectedResult string
+	}{
+		"pre-commit": {
+			vote:           examplePrecommit(t),
+			expectedResult: preCommitTestStr,
+		},
+		"pre-vote": {
+			vote:           examplePrevote(t),
+			expectedResult: preVoteTestStr,
+		},
+		"absent vote": {
+			expectedResult: absentVoteStr,
+		},
+		"nil vote": {
+			vote: func() *Vote {
+				v := examplePrecommit(t)
+				v.BlockID.Hash = nil
+				return v
+			}(),
+			expectedResult: nilVoteTestStr,
+		},
+		"non-empty vote extension": {
+			vote: func() *Vote {
+				v := examplePrecommit(t)
+				v.Extension = []byte{1, 2}
+				return v
+			}(),
+			expectedResult: formatNonEmptyVoteExtensionFn(2),
+		},
 	}
 
-	str2 := examplePrevote(t).String()
-	expected = `Vote{56789:6AF1F4111082 12345/02/SIGNED_MSG_TYPE_PREVOTE(Prevote) 8B01023386C3 000000000000 000000000000 @ 2017-12-25T03:00:01.234Z}` //nolint:lll //ignore line length for tests
-	if str2 != expected {
-		t.Errorf("got unexpected string for Vote. Expected:\n%v\nGot:\n%v", expected, str2)
+	for name, tc := range testcases {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expectedResult, tc.vote.String())
+		})
 	}
 }