diff --git a/.pending/bugfixes/gaiacli/4219-Empty-mnemonic- b/.pending/bugfixes/gaiacli/4219-Empty-mnemonic-
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c0509645a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.pending/bugfixes/gaiacli/4219-Empty-mnemonic-
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#4219 Return an error when an empty mnemonic is provided during key recovery.
diff --git a/client/keys/add.go b/client/keys/add.go
index 390b1bc2a7..fd3c1b747d 100644
--- a/client/keys/add.go
+++ b/client/keys/add.go
@@ -33,11 +33,6 @@ const (
 	flagNoSort      = "nosort"
 )
 
-const (
-	maxValidAccountValue = int(0x80000000 - 1)
-	maxValidIndexalue    = int(0x80000000 - 1)
-)
-
 func addKeyCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "add <name>",
@@ -200,6 +195,10 @@ func runAddCmd(_ *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+
+		if !bip39.IsMnemonicValid(mnemonic) {
+			return errors.New("invalid mnemonic")
+		}
 	}
 
 	if len(mnemonic) == 0 {
@@ -215,11 +214,6 @@ func runAddCmd(_ *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
-	if !bip39.IsMnemonicValid(mnemonic) {
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error: Mnemonic is not valid.\n")
-		return nil
-	}
-
 	// override bip39 passphrase
 	if interactive {
 		bip39Passphrase, err = client.GetString(
diff --git a/cmd/gaia/cli_test/cli_test.go b/cmd/gaia/cli_test/cli_test.go
index 2cb0d22239..f6bdcb6a61 100644
--- a/cmd/gaia/cli_test/cli_test.go
+++ b/cmd/gaia/cli_test/cli_test.go
@@ -51,7 +51,11 @@ func TestGaiaCLIKeysAddRecover(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 	f := InitFixtures(t)
 
-	f.KeysAddRecover("test-recover", "dentist task convince chimney quality leave banana trade firm crawl eternal easily")
+	exitSuccess, _, _ := f.KeysAddRecover("empty-mnemonic", "")
+	require.False(t, exitSuccess)
+
+	exitSuccess, _, _ = f.KeysAddRecover("test-recover", "dentist task convince chimney quality leave banana trade firm crawl eternal easily")
+	require.True(t, exitSuccess)
 	require.Equal(t, "cosmos1qcfdf69js922qrdr4yaww3ax7gjml6pdds46f4", f.KeyAddress("test-recover").String())
 }
 
diff --git a/cmd/gaia/cli_test/test_helpers.go b/cmd/gaia/cli_test/test_helpers.go
index 482cc60ad1..6053301ebc 100644
--- a/cmd/gaia/cli_test/test_helpers.go
+++ b/cmd/gaia/cli_test/test_helpers.go
@@ -264,9 +264,9 @@ func (f *Fixtures) KeysAdd(name string, flags ...string) {
 }
 
 // KeysAddRecover prepares gaiacli keys add --recover
-func (f *Fixtures) KeysAddRecover(name, mnemonic string, flags ...string) {
+func (f *Fixtures) KeysAddRecover(name, mnemonic string, flags ...string) (exitSuccess bool, stdout, stderr string) {
 	cmd := fmt.Sprintf("%s keys add --home=%s --recover %s", f.GaiacliBinary, f.GaiacliHome, name)
-	executeWriteCheckErr(f.T, addFlags(cmd, flags), client.DefaultKeyPass, mnemonic)
+	return executeWriteRetStdStreams(f.T, addFlags(cmd, flags), client.DefaultKeyPass, mnemonic)
 }
 
 // KeysAddRecoverHDPath prepares gaiacli keys add --recover --account --index