diff --git a/types/coin.go b/types/coin.go
index c624f4b2bd..387d730892 100644
--- a/types/coin.go
+++ b/types/coin.go
@@ -328,25 +328,25 @@ func (coins Coins) safeAdd(coinsB Coins) (coalesced Coins) {
 		panic("Wrong argument: coins must be sorted")
 	}
 
-	uniqCoins := make(map[string]Coins, len(coins)+len(coinsB))
+	uniqCoins := make(map[string]Coin, len(coins)+len(coinsB))
 	// Traverse all the coins for each of the coins and coinsB.
 	for _, cL := range []Coins{coins, coinsB} {
 		for _, c := range cL {
-			uniqCoins[c.Denom] = append(uniqCoins[c.Denom], c)
+			if uc, ok := uniqCoins[c.Denom]; ok {
+				uniqCoins[c.Denom] = uc.Add(c)
+			} else {
+				uniqCoins[c.Denom] = c
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
-	for denom, cL := range uniqCoins { //#nosec
-		comboCoin := Coin{Denom: denom, Amount: NewInt(0)}
-		for _, c := range cL {
-			comboCoin = comboCoin.Add(c)
+	coalesced = make(Coins, 0, len(uniqCoins))
+	for denom, c := range uniqCoins { //#nosec
+		if c.IsZero() {
+			continue
 		}
-		if !comboCoin.IsZero() {
-			coalesced = append(coalesced, comboCoin)
-		}
-	}
-	if coalesced == nil {
-		return Coins{}
+		c.Denom = denom
+		coalesced = append(coalesced, c)
 	}
 	return coalesced.Sort()
 }
diff --git a/types/dec_coin.go b/types/dec_coin.go
index 2e56d5f5fb..2a3e930f62 100644
--- a/types/dec_coin.go
+++ b/types/dec_coin.go
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ func (coins DecCoins) Add(coinsB ...DecCoin) DecCoins {
 // denomination and addition only occurs when the denominations match, otherwise
 // the coin is simply added to the sum assuming it's not zero.
 func (coins DecCoins) safeAdd(coinsB DecCoins) DecCoins {
-	sum := ([]DecCoin)(nil)
+	sum := make(DecCoins, 0, len(coins)+len(coinsB))
 	indexA, indexB := 0, 0
 	lenA, lenB := len(coins), len(coinsB)
 
diff --git a/types/dec_coin_test.go b/types/dec_coin_test.go
index ddd78ed61c..c07341d72c 100644
--- a/types/dec_coin_test.go
+++ b/types/dec_coin_test.go
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ func (s *decCoinTestSuite) TestAddDecCoins() {
 	}{
 		{sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, one}, {testDenom2, one}}, sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, one}, {testDenom2, one}}, sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, two}, {testDenom2, two}}},
 		{sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, zero}, {testDenom2, one}}, sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, zero}, {testDenom2, zero}}, sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom2, one}}},
-		{sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, zero}, {testDenom2, zero}}, sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, zero}, {testDenom2, zero}}, sdk.DecCoins(nil)},
+		{sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, zero}, {testDenom2, zero}}, sdk.DecCoins{{testDenom1, zero}, {testDenom2, zero}}, sdk.DecCoins{}},
 	}
 
 	for tcIndex, tc := range cases {