diff --git a/app/export.go b/app/export.go
index f0386a6c31..18473782b7 100644
--- a/app/export.go
+++ b/app/export.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	storetypes "cosmossdk.io/store/types"
-	tmproto "github.com/cometbft/cometbft/proto/tendermint/types"
+	cmtproto "github.com/cometbft/cometbft/proto/tendermint/types"
 
 	servertypes "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/server/types"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
@@ -20,10 +20,10 @@ func (app *App) ExportAppStateAndValidators(
 	forZeroHeight bool, jailAllowedAddrs []string, modulesToExport []string,
 ) (servertypes.ExportedApp, error) {
 	// as if they could withdraw from the start of the next block
-	ctx := app.NewContextLegacy(true, tmproto.Header{Height: app.LastBlockHeight()})
+	ctx := app.NewContextLegacy(true, cmtproto.Header{Height: app.LastBlockHeight()})
 
 	// We export at last height + 1, because that's the height at which
-	// Tendermint will start InitChain.
+	// CometBFT will start InitChain.
 	height := app.LastBlockHeight() + 1
 	if forZeroHeight {
 		height = 0
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ func (app *App) ExportAppStateAndValidators(
 	if err != nil {
 		return servertypes.ExportedApp{}, err
 	}
+
 	appState, err := json.MarshalIndent(genState, "", "  ")
 	if err != nil {
 		return servertypes.ExportedApp{}, err
@@ -57,7 +58,8 @@ func (app *App) ExportAppStateAndValidators(
 
 // prepare for fresh start at zero height
 // NOTE zero height genesis is a temporary feature which will be deprecated
-// in favor of export at a block height
+//
+//	in favor of export at a block height
 func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []string) error {
 	var applyAllowedAddrs bool
 
@@ -123,11 +125,11 @@ func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []str
 
 	// reinitialize all validators
 	if err := app.StakingKeeper.IterateValidators(ctx, func(_ int64, val stakingtypes.ValidatorI) (stop bool) {
-		// donate any unwithdrawn outstanding reward fraction tokens to the community pool
 		valBz, err := app.StakingKeeper.ValidatorAddressCodec().StringToBytes(val.GetOperator())
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
+		// donate any unwithdrawn outstanding reward fraction tokens to the community pool
 		scraps, err := app.DistrKeeper.GetValidatorOutstandingRewardsCoins(ctx, valBz)
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []str
 		}
 
 		if err := app.DistrKeeper.Hooks().AfterValidatorCreated(ctx, valBz); err != nil {
-			return true
+			panic(err)
 		}
 		return false
 	}); err != nil {
@@ -160,9 +162,11 @@ func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []str
 			return err
 		}
 		if err := app.DistrKeeper.Hooks().BeforeDelegationCreated(ctx, delAddr, valAddr); err != nil {
+			// never called as BeforeDelegationCreated always returns nil
 			return err
 		}
 		if err := app.DistrKeeper.Hooks().AfterDelegationModified(ctx, delAddr, valAddr); err != nil {
+			// never called as AfterDelegationModified always returns nil
 			return err
 		}
 	}
@@ -200,8 +204,9 @@ func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []str
 
 	// Iterate through validators by power descending, reset bond heights, and
 	// update bond intra-tx counters.
-	store := ctx.KVStore(app.keys[stakingtypes.StoreKey])
+	store := ctx.KVStore(app.GetKey(stakingtypes.StoreKey))
 	iter := storetypes.KVStoreReversePrefixIterator(store, stakingtypes.ValidatorsKey)
+	counter := int16(0)
 
 	for ; iter.Valid(); iter.Next() {
 		addr := sdk.ValAddress(stakingtypes.AddressFromValidatorsKey(iter.Key()))
@@ -218,6 +223,7 @@ func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []str
 		if err := app.StakingKeeper.SetValidator(ctx, validator); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		counter++
 	}
 
 	if err := iter.Close(); err != nil {
diff --git a/app/test_helpers.go b/app/test_helpers.go
index a4479932d8..9a2d5fd9fb 100644
--- a/app/test_helpers.go
+++ b/app/test_helpers.go
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ func SetupWithGenesisValSet(t *testing.T, cronosAdmin string, valSet *tmtypes.Va
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	// init chain will set the validator set and initialize the genesis accounts
-	app.InitChain(
+	_, err = app.InitChain(
 		&abci.RequestInitChain{
 			ChainId:         TestAppChainID,
 			Validators:      []abci.ValidatorUpdate{},
@@ -139,6 +139,7 @@ func SetupWithGenesisValSet(t *testing.T, cronosAdmin string, valSet *tmtypes.Va
 			AppStateBytes:   stateBytes,
 		},
 	)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
 	return app
 }