diff --git a/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/abi_serializer.hpp b/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/abi_serializer.hpp
index 01551e9ff6..451ac23ec5 100644
--- a/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/abi_serializer.hpp
+++ b/libraries/chain/include/eosio/chain/abi_serializer.hpp
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ namespace impl {
                      binary_to_variant_context _ctx(*abi, ctx, type);
                      _ctx.short_path = true; // Just to be safe while avoiding the complexity of threading an override boolean all over the place
                      mvo( "data", abi->_binary_to_variant( type, act.data, _ctx ));
-                     mvo("hex_data", act.data);
+                     set_hex_data(mvo, "hex_data", act.data);
                   } catch(...) {
                      // any failure to serialize data, then leave as not serailzed
                      set_hex_data(mvo, "data", act.data);