diff --git a/x/stake/client/cli/query.go b/x/stake/client/cli/query.go
index 5a22f2c416..e66a3bb4d5 100644
--- a/x/stake/client/cli/query.go
+++ b/x/stake/client/cli/query.go
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import (
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/wire"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/stake"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/stake/types"
 )
 
 // get the command to query a validator
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ func GetCmdQueryDelegation(storeName string, cdc *wire.Codec) *cobra.Command {
 			}
 
 			// parse out the delegation
-			delegation := new(stake.Delegation)
+			delegation := types.UnmarshalDelegation(cdc, key, res)
 
 			switch viper.Get(cli.OutputFlag) {
 			case "text":
@@ -140,7 +141,6 @@ func GetCmdQueryDelegation(storeName string, cdc *wire.Codec) *cobra.Command {
 				}
 				fmt.Println(resp)
 			case "json":
-				cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(res, delegation)
 				output, err := wire.MarshalJSONIndent(cdc, delegation)
 				if err != nil {
 					return err
@@ -179,8 +179,7 @@ func GetCmdQueryDelegations(storeName string, cdc *wire.Codec) *cobra.Command {
 			// parse out the validators
 			var delegations []stake.Delegation
 			for _, KV := range resKVs {
-				var delegation stake.Delegation
-				cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(KV.Value, &delegation)
+				delegation := types.UnmarshalDelegation(cdc, KV.Key, KV.Value)
 				delegations = append(delegations, delegation)
 			}
 
diff --git a/x/stake/client/rest/query.go b/x/stake/client/rest/query.go
index 12ef882e5e..b19cea72b7 100644
--- a/x/stake/client/rest/query.go
+++ b/x/stake/client/rest/query.go
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/client/context"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/wire"
+
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/stake"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/stake/types"
 )
 
 const storeName = "stake"
@@ -75,13 +77,7 @@ func delegationHandlerFn(ctx context.CoreContext, cdc *wire.Codec) http.HandlerF
 			return
 		}
 
-		var delegation stake.Delegation
-		err = cdc.UnmarshalBinary(res, &delegation)
-		if err != nil {
-			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusInternalServerError)
-			w.Write([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("couldn't decode delegation. Error: %s", err.Error())))
-			return
-		}
+		delegation := types.UnmarshalDelegation(cdc, key, res)
 
 		output, err := cdc.MarshalJSON(delegation)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/x/stake/keeper/delegation.go b/x/stake/keeper/delegation.go
index bb8170a6a3..9c56b85125 100644
--- a/x/stake/keeper/delegation.go
+++ b/x/stake/keeper/delegation.go
@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@ func (k Keeper) GetDelegation(ctx sdk.Context,
 	delegatorAddr, validatorAddr sdk.Address) (delegation types.Delegation, found bool) {
 
 	store := ctx.KVStore(k.storeKey)
-	delegatorBytes := store.Get(GetDelegationKey(delegatorAddr, validatorAddr))
-	if delegatorBytes == nil {
+	key := GetDelegationKey(delegatorAddr, validatorAddr)
+	value := store.Get(key)
+	if value == nil {
 		return delegation, false
 	}
 
-	k.cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(delegatorBytes, &delegation)
+	delegation = types.UnmarshalDelegation(k.cdc, key, value)
 	return delegation, true
 }
 
@@ -31,9 +32,7 @@ func (k Keeper) GetAllDelegations(ctx sdk.Context) (delegations []types.Delegati
 		if !iterator.Valid() {
 			break
 		}
-		bondBytes := iterator.Value()
-		var delegation types.Delegation
-		k.cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(bondBytes, &delegation)
+		delegation := types.UnmarshalDelegation(k.cdc, iterator.Key(), iterator.Value())
 		delegations = append(delegations, delegation)
 		iterator.Next()
 	}
@@ -55,9 +54,7 @@ func (k Keeper) GetDelegations(ctx sdk.Context, delegator sdk.Address,
 		if !iterator.Valid() || i > int(maxRetrieve-1) {
 			break
 		}
-		bondBytes := iterator.Value()
-		var delegation types.Delegation
-		k.cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(bondBytes, &delegation)
+		delegation := types.UnmarshalDelegation(k.cdc, iterator.Key(), iterator.Value())
 		delegations[i] = delegation
 		iterator.Next()
 	}
@@ -68,7 +65,7 @@ func (k Keeper) GetDelegations(ctx sdk.Context, delegator sdk.Address,
 // set the delegation
 func (k Keeper) SetDelegation(ctx sdk.Context, delegation types.Delegation) {
 	store := ctx.KVStore(k.storeKey)
-	b := k.cdc.MustMarshalBinary(delegation)
+	b := types.MarshalDelegation(k.cdc, delegation)
 	store.Set(GetDelegationKey(delegation.DelegatorAddr, delegation.ValidatorAddr), b)
 }
 
diff --git a/x/stake/keeper/sdk_types.go b/x/stake/keeper/sdk_types.go
index bedbc15591..9e45982b46 100644
--- a/x/stake/keeper/sdk_types.go
+++ b/x/stake/keeper/sdk_types.go
@@ -91,9 +91,7 @@ func (k Keeper) IterateDelegations(ctx sdk.Context, delAddr sdk.Address, fn func
 	iterator := sdk.KVStorePrefixIterator(store, key)
 	i := int64(0)
 	for ; iterator.Valid(); iterator.Next() {
-		bz := iterator.Value()
-		var delegation types.Delegation
-		k.cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(bz, &delegation)
+		delegation := types.UnmarshalDelegation(k.cdc, iterator.Key(), iterator.Value())
 		stop := fn(i, delegation) // XXX is this safe will the fields be able to get written to?
 		if stop {
 			break
diff --git a/x/stake/types/delegation.go b/x/stake/types/delegation.go
index 705dcb6cd9..b6d35fb560 100644
--- a/x/stake/types/delegation.go
+++ b/x/stake/types/delegation.go
@@ -37,13 +37,12 @@ func UnmarshalDelegation(cdc *wire.Codec, key, value []byte) Delegation {
 	var storeValue delegationValue
 	cdc.MustUnmarshalBinary(value, &storeValue)
 
-	addrs := IndexKey[1:] // remove prefix bytes
-	split := len(addrs) / 2
-	if (len(addrs) % 2) != 0 {
+	addrs := key[1:] // remove prefix bytes
+	if len(addrs) != 40 {
 		panic("key length not even")
 	}
-	delAddr := sdk.Address{addrs[:split]}
-	valAddr := sdk.Address{addrs[split:]}
+	delAddr := sdk.Address(addrs[:20])
+	valAddr := sdk.Address(addrs[20:])
 
 	return Delegation{
 		DelegatorAddr: delAddr,