diff --git a/examples/dummy/main.go b/examples/dummy/main.go
index b09662f1db..6fd7aa5478 100644
--- a/examples/dummy/main.go
+++ b/examples/dummy/main.go
@@ -62,9 +62,14 @@ func main() {
 
 func DummyHandler(storeKey sdk.StoreKey) sdk.Handler {
 	return func(ctx sdk.Context, msg sdk.Msg) sdk.Result {
+		dTx, ok := msg.(dummyTx)
+		if !ok {
+			panic("DummyHandler should only receive dummyTx")
+		}
+
 		// tx is already unmarshalled
-		key := msg.Get("key").([]byte)
-		value := msg.Get("value").([]byte)
+		key := dTx.key
+		value := dTx.value
 
 		store := ctx.KVStore(storeKey)
 		store.Set(key, value)
diff --git a/examples/dummy/tx.go b/examples/dummy/tx.go
index 2731686259..7bea103e7a 100644
--- a/examples/dummy/tx.go
+++ b/examples/dummy/tx.go
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ func (tx dummyTx) GetFeePayer() crypto.Address {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// takes raw transaction bytes and decodes them into an sdk.Tx. An sdk.Tx has
+// all the signatures and can be used to authenticate.
 func decodeTx(txBytes []byte) (sdk.Tx, sdk.Error) {
 	var tx sdk.Tx