diff --git a/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py b/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py
index 61562261..83df4ea6 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/upsert_validator/validator_utils.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import base64
 import binascii
 
 from abci.types_pb2 import (Validator,
+                            ValidatorUpdate,
                             PubKey)
 from bigchaindb.common.exceptions import InvalidPublicKey
 
@@ -12,8 +13,7 @@ def encode_validator(v):
     # NOTE: tendermint expects public to be encoded in go-amino format
     pub_key = PubKey(type='ed25519',
                      data=bytes.fromhex(ed25519_public_key))
-    return Validator(pub_key=pub_key,
-                     address=b'',
+    return ValidatorUpdate(pub_key=pub_key,
                      power=v['power'])
 
 
diff --git a/tests/tendermint/conftest.py b/tests/tendermint/conftest.py
index fccd2ade..14302f5d 100644
--- a/tests/tendermint/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/tendermint/conftest.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def init_chain_request():
     addr = codecs.decode(b'9FD479C869C7D7E7605BF99293457AA5D80C3033', 'hex')
     pk = codecs.decode(b'VAgFZtYw8bNR5TMZHFOBDWk9cAmEu3/c6JgRBmddbbI=',
                        'base64')
-    val_a = types.Validator(address=addr, power=10,
+    val_a = types.ValidatorUpdate( power=10,
                             pub_key=types.PubKey(type='ed25519', data=pk))
 
     return types.RequestInitChain(validators=[val_a])
diff --git a/tests/tendermint/test_core.py b/tests/tendermint/test_core.py
index 9605e7f1..2ceab619 100644
--- a/tests/tendermint/test_core.py
+++ b/tests/tendermint/test_core.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from abci.types_pb2 import (
     RequestBeginBlock,
     RequestEndBlock,
     Validator,
+    ValidatorUpdate,
 )
 
 from bigchaindb import App
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ def generate_validator():
     addr = codecs.decode(generate_address(), 'hex')
     pk, _ = generate_key_pair()
     pub_key = PubKey(type='ed25519', data=pk.encode())
-    val = Validator(address=addr, power=10, pub_key=pub_key)
+    val = ValidatorUpdate( power=10, pub_key=pub_key)
     return val