diff --git a/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_election.py b/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_election.py
index 4c09a2c7..89123324 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_election.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_election.py
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ class ValidatorElection(Transaction):
         validators = {}
         for validator in bigchain.get_validators():
             # NOTE: we assume that Tendermint encodes public key in base64
-            public_key = public_key_from_ed25519_key(key_from_base64(validator['pub_key']['value']))
+            public_key = public_key_from_ed25519_key(key_from_base64(validator['pub_key']['data']))
             validators[public_key] = validator['voting_power']
 
         return validators
diff --git a/tests/commands/test_commands.py b/tests/commands/test_commands.py
index ada3617f..523f528d 100644
--- a/tests/commands/test_commands.py
+++ b/tests/commands/test_commands.py
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ def test_upsert_validator_new_without_tendermint(b, priv_validator_path, user_sk
 
     def mock_get():
         return [
-            {'pub_key': {'value': 'zL/DasvKulXZzhSNFwx4cLRXKkSM9GPK7Y0nZ4FEylM=',
+            {'pub_key': {'data': 'zL/DasvKulXZzhSNFwx4cLRXKkSM9GPK7Y0nZ4FEylM=',
                          'type': 'tendermint/PubKeyEd25519'},
              'voting_power': 10}
         ]
diff --git a/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py b/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py
index b2745493..f3bd87a9 100644
--- a/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/upsert_validator/conftest.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def mock_get_validators(network_validators):
         validators = []
         for public_key, power in network_validators.items():
             validators.append({
-                'pub_key': {'type': 'AC26791624DE60', 'value': public_key},
+                'pub_key': {'type': 'AC26791624DE60', 'data': public_key},
                 'voting_power': power
             })
         return validators