diff --git a/packages/cli/examples/instantiate2_addresses.ts b/packages/cli/examples/instantiate2_addresses.ts
index 18050b5b..566c0640 100644
--- a/packages/cli/examples/instantiate2_addresses.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/examples/instantiate2_addresses.ts
@@ -31,12 +31,11 @@ for (let checksum of checksums) {
   for (let creator of [makeTestingAddress(20), makeTestingAddress(32)]) {
     for (let salt of salts) {
       for (let msg of msgs) {
-        const encodedMsg = typeof msg === "string" ? toUtf8(msg) : new Uint8Array();
         const { key, addressData, address } = _instantiate2AddressIntermediate(
           checksum,
           creator,
           salt,
-          encodedMsg,
+          msg,
           "purple",
         );
         out.push({
diff --git a/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/instantiate2_address.ts b/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/instantiate2_address.ts
index bf919039..1b0d58ea 100644
--- a/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/instantiate2_address.ts
+++ b/packages/cosmwasm-stargate/src/instantiate2_address.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { Sha256, sha256 } from "@cosmjs/crypto";
-import { fromBech32, toAscii, toBech32 } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
+import { fromBech32, toAscii, toBech32, toUtf8 } from "@cosmjs/encoding";
 import { Uint64 } from "@cosmjs/math";
 import { assert } from "@cosmjs/utils";
 
@@ -27,12 +27,14 @@ export function _instantiate2AddressIntermediate(
   checksum: Uint8Array,
   creator: string,
   salt: Uint8Array,
-  msg: Uint8Array,
+  msg: string | null,
   prefix: string,
 ): { key: Uint8Array; addressData: Uint8Array; address: string } {
   assert(checksum.length === 32);
   const creatorData = fromBech32(creator).data;
 
+  const msgData = typeof msg === "string" ? toUtf8(msg) : new Uint8Array();
+
   // Validate inputs
   if (salt.length < 1 || salt.length > 64) throw new Error("Salt must be between 1 and 64 bytes");
 
@@ -45,19 +47,23 @@ export function _instantiate2AddressIntermediate(
     ...creatorData,
     ...toUint64(salt.length),
     ...salt,
-    ...toUint64(msg.length),
-    ...msg,
+    ...toUint64(msgData.length),
+    ...msgData,
   ]);
   const addressData = hash("module", key);
   const address = toBech32(prefix, addressData);
   return { key, addressData, address };
 }
 
+/**
+ * Predictable address generation for the MsgInstantiateContract2
+ * introduced with wasmd 0.29.
+ */
 export function instantiate2Address(
   checksum: Uint8Array,
   creator: string,
   salt: Uint8Array,
-  msg: Uint8Array,
+  msg: string | null,
   prefix: string,
 ): string {
   return _instantiate2AddressIntermediate(checksum, creator, salt, msg, prefix).address;