diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7a9efc12..b383714c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 - @cosmjs/tendermint-rpc: Remove export `v0_33` in favour of `adaptor33` and
   `adaptor34`. Export the `Adaptor` type.
 - @cosmjs/tendermint-rpc: Export `DateTime` class.
+- @cosmjs/tendermint-rpc: Remove type `QueryString`. Use `string` instead.
 
 ## 0.23.1 (2020-10-27)
 
diff --git a/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/cosmwasmclient.ts b/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/cosmwasmclient.ts
index e99b41ce..ea6c8e5c 100644
--- a/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/cosmwasmclient.ts
+++ b/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/cosmwasmclient.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,6 @@ import {
   broadcastTxCommitSuccess,
   Client as TendermintClient,
   DateTime,
-  QueryString,
 } from "@cosmjs/tendermint-rpc";
 import { assert } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 
@@ -343,10 +342,7 @@ export class CosmWasmClient {
   }
 
   private async txsQuery(query: string): Promise<readonly IndexedTx[]> {
-    const params = {
-      query: query as QueryString,
-    };
-    const results = await this.tmClient.txSearchAll(params);
+    const results = await this.tmClient.txSearchAll({ query: query });
     return results.txs.map((tx) => {
       return {
         height: tx.height,
diff --git a/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts b/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
index ca2b1fe0..4f01f6d1 100644
--- a/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
+++ b/packages/stargate/src/stargateclient.ts
@@ -12,12 +12,7 @@ import {
 } from "@cosmjs/launchpad";
 import { Uint53, Uint64 } from "@cosmjs/math";
 import { decodePubkey } from "@cosmjs/proto-signing";
-import {
-  adaptor34,
-  broadcastTxCommitSuccess,
-  Client as TendermintClient,
-  QueryString,
-} from "@cosmjs/tendermint-rpc";
+import { adaptor34, broadcastTxCommitSuccess, Client as TendermintClient } from "@cosmjs/tendermint-rpc";
 import { assert, assertDefined } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 import Long from "long";
 
@@ -281,10 +276,7 @@ export class StargateClient {
   }
 
   private async txsQuery(query: string): Promise<readonly IndexedTx[]> {
-    const params = {
-      query: query as QueryString,
-    };
-    const results = await this.tmClient.txSearchAll(params);
+    const results = await this.tmClient.txSearchAll({ query: query });
     return results.txs.map((tx) => {
       return {
         height: tx.height,
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/adaptors/v0-33/requests.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/adaptors/v0-33/requests.ts
index f9501bff..286313c0 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/adaptors/v0-33/requests.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/adaptors/v0-33/requests.ts
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ function encodeTxParams(params: requests.TxParams): RpcTxParams {
 }
 
 interface RpcTxSearchParams {
-  readonly query: requests.QueryString;
+  readonly query: string;
   readonly prove?: boolean;
   readonly page?: IntegerString;
   readonly per_page?: IntegerString;
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/client.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/client.ts
index 1878b6e0..9df10731 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/client.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/client.ts
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ export class Client {
     return this.subscribe(request, this.r.decodeNewBlockHeaderEvent);
   }
 
-  public subscribeTx(query?: requests.QueryString): Stream<responses.TxEvent> {
+  public subscribeTx(query?: string): Stream<responses.TxEvent> {
     const request: requests.SubscribeRequest = {
       method: requests.Method.Subscribe,
       query: {
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/index.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/index.ts
index c01b7fd0..ab9e1f74 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/index.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ export {
   HealthRequest,
   Method,
   Request,
-  QueryString,
   QueryTag,
   StatusRequest,
   SubscriptionEventType,
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.spec.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.spec.ts
index 5277e0b4..f2134ea8 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.spec.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { buildQuery, QueryString } from "./requests";
+import { buildQuery } from "./requests";
 
 describe("Requests", () => {
   describe("buildQuery", () => {
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe("Requests", () => {
     });
 
     it("works for raw input", () => {
-      const query = buildQuery({ raw: "aabbCCDD" as QueryString });
+      const query = buildQuery({ raw: "aabbCCDD" });
       expect(query).toEqual("aabbCCDD");
     });
 
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ describe("Requests", () => {
           { key: "k", value: "9" },
           { key: "L", value: "7" },
         ],
-        raw: "aabbCCDD" as QueryString,
+        raw: "aabbCCDD",
       });
       expect(query).toEqual("k='9' AND L='7' AND aabbCCDD");
     });
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.ts
index bb6b1b83..b4c7e8f4 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/src/requests.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 /* eslint-disable @typescript-eslint/naming-convention */
-import { As } from "type-tagger";
 
 /**
  * RPC methods as documented in https://docs.tendermint.com/master/rpc/
@@ -129,12 +128,10 @@ export interface SubscribeRequest {
   readonly method: Method.Subscribe;
   readonly query: {
     readonly type: SubscriptionEventType;
-    readonly raw?: QueryString;
+    readonly raw?: string;
   };
 }
 
-export type QueryString = string & As<"query">;
-
 export interface QueryTag {
   readonly key: string;
   readonly value: string;
@@ -154,8 +151,9 @@ export interface TxSearchRequest {
   readonly method: Method.TxSearch;
   readonly params: TxSearchParams;
 }
+
 export interface TxSearchParams {
-  readonly query: QueryString;
+  readonly query: string;
   readonly prove?: boolean;
   readonly page?: number;
   readonly per_page?: number;
@@ -170,13 +168,13 @@ export interface ValidatorsRequest {
 
 export interface BuildQueryComponents {
   readonly tags?: readonly QueryTag[];
-  readonly raw?: QueryString;
+  readonly raw?: string;
 }
 
-export function buildQuery(components: BuildQueryComponents): QueryString {
+export function buildQuery(components: BuildQueryComponents): string {
   const tags = components.tags ? components.tags : [];
   const tagComponents = tags.map((tag) => `${tag.key}='${tag.value}'`);
   const rawComponents = components.raw ? [components.raw] : [];
 
-  return [...tagComponents, ...rawComponents].join(" AND ") as QueryString;
+  return [...tagComponents, ...rawComponents].join(" AND ");
 }
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/client.d.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/client.d.ts
index f6a4830a..e4c8b468 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/client.d.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/client.d.ts
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export declare class Client {
   status(): Promise<responses.StatusResponse>;
   subscribeNewBlock(): Stream<responses.NewBlockEvent>;
   subscribeNewBlockHeader(): Stream<responses.NewBlockHeaderEvent>;
-  subscribeTx(query?: requests.QueryString): Stream<responses.TxEvent>;
+  subscribeTx(query?: string): Stream<responses.TxEvent>;
   /**
    * Get a single transaction by hash
    *
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/index.d.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/index.d.ts
index 4923480d..675663bc 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/index.d.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/index.d.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ export {
   HealthRequest,
   Method,
   Request,
-  QueryString,
   QueryTag,
   StatusRequest,
   SubscriptionEventType,
diff --git a/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/requests.d.ts b/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/requests.d.ts
index c8c8f312..c7284797 100644
--- a/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/requests.d.ts
+++ b/packages/tendermint-rpc/types/requests.d.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { As } from "type-tagger";
 /**
  * RPC methods as documented in https://docs.tendermint.com/master/rpc/
  *
@@ -113,10 +112,9 @@ export interface SubscribeRequest {
   readonly method: Method.Subscribe;
   readonly query: {
     readonly type: SubscriptionEventType;
-    readonly raw?: QueryString;
+    readonly raw?: string;
   };
 }
-export declare type QueryString = string & As<"query">;
 export interface QueryTag {
   readonly key: string;
   readonly value: string;
@@ -134,7 +132,7 @@ export interface TxSearchRequest {
   readonly params: TxSearchParams;
 }
 export interface TxSearchParams {
-  readonly query: QueryString;
+  readonly query: string;
   readonly prove?: boolean;
   readonly page?: number;
   readonly per_page?: number;
@@ -147,6 +145,6 @@ export interface ValidatorsRequest {
 }
 export interface BuildQueryComponents {
   readonly tags?: readonly QueryTag[];
-  readonly raw?: QueryString;
+  readonly raw?: string;
 }
-export declare function buildQuery(components: BuildQueryComponents): QueryString;
+export declare function buildQuery(components: BuildQueryComponents): string;