diff --git a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/module.go b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/module.go
index 1ac7d58e503..b11c611e0c9 100644
--- a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/module.go
+++ b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/module.go
@@ -42,10 +42,8 @@ func (AppModuleBasic) Name() string {
 	return types.ModuleName
 }
 
-// RegisterLegacyAminoCodec implements AppModuleBasic interface
-func (AppModuleBasic) RegisterLegacyAminoCodec(cdc *codec.LegacyAmino) {
-	types.RegisterLegacyAminoCodec(cdc)
-}
+// RegisterLegacyAminoCodec implements AppModuleBasic.
+func (AppModuleBasic) RegisterLegacyAminoCodec(cdc *codec.LegacyAmino) {}
 
 // RegisterInterfaces registers module concrete types into protobuf Any
 func (AppModuleBasic) RegisterInterfaces(registry codectypes.InterfaceRegistry) {
diff --git a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec.go b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec.go
index 2ac1f553bcc..a5a0922cabd 100644
--- a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec.go
+++ b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
 	codectypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec/types"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
+	sdkerrors "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types/errors"
 	authtypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/auth/types"
 )
 
@@ -16,13 +17,6 @@ var (
 	ModuleCdc = codec.NewProtoCodec(codectypes.NewInterfaceRegistry())
 )
 
-// RegisterLegacyAminoCodec registers the account interfaces and concrete types on the
-// provided LegacyAmino codec. These types are used for Amino JSON serialization
-func RegisterLegacyAminoCodec(cdc *codec.LegacyAmino) {
-	cdc.RegisterInterface((*InterchainAccountI)(nil), nil)
-	cdc.RegisterConcrete(&InterchainAccount{}, "27-interchain-accounts/InterchainAccount", nil)
-}
-
 // RegisterInterfaces registers the concrete InterchainAccount implementation against the associated
 // x/auth AccountI and GenesisAccount interfaces
 func RegisterInterfaces(registry codectypes.InterfaceRegistry) {
@@ -32,8 +26,13 @@ func RegisterInterfaces(registry codectypes.InterfaceRegistry) {
 
 // SerializeCosmosTx serializes a slice of sdk.Msg's using the CosmosTx type. The sdk.Msg's are
 // packed into Any's and inserted into the Messages field of a CosmosTx. The proto marshaled CosmosTx
-// bytes are returned.
+// bytes are returned. Only the ProtoCodec is supported for serializing messages.
 func SerializeCosmosTx(cdc codec.BinaryCodec, msgs []sdk.Msg) (bz []byte, err error) {
+	// only ProtoCodec is supported
+	if _, ok := cdc.(*codec.ProtoCodec); !ok {
+		return nil, sdkerrors.Wrap(ErrInvalidCodec, "only ProtoCodec is supported for receiving messages on the host chain")
+	}
+
 	msgAnys := make([]*codectypes.Any, len(msgs))
 
 	for i, msg := range msgs {
@@ -56,8 +55,14 @@ func SerializeCosmosTx(cdc codec.BinaryCodec, msgs []sdk.Msg) (bz []byte, err er
 }
 
 // DeserializeCosmosTx unmarshals and unpacks a slice of transaction bytes
-// into a slice of sdk.Msg's.
+// into a slice of sdk.Msg's. Only the ProtoCodec is supported for message
+// deserialization.
 func DeserializeCosmosTx(cdc codec.BinaryCodec, data []byte) ([]sdk.Msg, error) {
+	// only ProtoCodec is supported
+	if _, ok := cdc.(*codec.ProtoCodec); !ok {
+		return nil, sdkerrors.Wrap(ErrInvalidCodec, "only ProtoCodec is supported for receiving messages on the host chain")
+	}
+
 	var cosmosTx CosmosTx
 	if err := cdc.Unmarshal(data, &cosmosTx); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
diff --git a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec_test.go b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec_test.go
index aee28e88d3e..e027fda9346 100644
--- a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec_test.go
+++ b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/codec_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package types_test
 
 import (
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	banktypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/bank/types"
 	govtypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/gov/types"
@@ -42,8 +43,7 @@ func (mockSdkMsg) GetSigners() []sdk.AccAddress {
 	return []sdk.AccAddress{}
 }
 
-func (suite *TypesTestSuite) TestSerializeCosmosTx() {
-
+func (suite *TypesTestSuite) TestSerializeAndDeserializeCosmosTx() {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name    string
 		msgs    []sdk.Msg
@@ -127,4 +127,26 @@ func (suite *TypesTestSuite) TestSerializeCosmosTx() {
 			suite.Require().Error(err, tc.name)
 		}
 	}
+
+	// test deserializing unknown bytes
+	msgs, err := types.DeserializeCosmosTx(simapp.MakeTestEncodingConfig().Marshaler, []byte("invalid"))
+	suite.Require().Error(err)
+	suite.Require().Empty(msgs)
+}
+
+// unregistered bytes causes amino to panic.
+// test that DeserializeCosmosTx gracefully returns an error on
+// unsupported amino codec.
+func (suite *TypesTestSuite) TestDeserializeAndSerializeCosmosTxWithAmino() {
+	cdc := codec.NewLegacyAmino()
+	marshaler := codec.NewAminoCodec(cdc)
+
+	msgs, err := types.SerializeCosmosTx(marshaler, []sdk.Msg{&banktypes.MsgSend{}})
+	suite.Require().Error(err)
+	suite.Require().Empty(msgs)
+
+	bz, err := types.DeserializeCosmosTx(marshaler, []byte{0x10, 0})
+	suite.Require().Error(err)
+	suite.Require().Empty(bz)
+
 }
diff --git a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/errors.go b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/errors.go
index 69248df73c3..e0a5c141de9 100644
--- a/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/errors.go
+++ b/modules/apps/27-interchain-accounts/types/errors.go
@@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ var (
 	ErrInvalidControllerPort       = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 14, "invalid controller port")
 	ErrInvalidHostPort             = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 15, "invalid host port")
 	ErrInvalidTimeoutTimestamp     = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 16, "timeout timestamp must be in the future")
+	ErrInvalidCodec                = sdkerrors.Register(ModuleName, 17, "codec is not supported")
 )