diff --git a/x/params/client/cli/tx.go b/x/params/client/cli/tx.go
index 969d9052e..020854f2a 100644
--- a/x/params/client/cli/tx.go
+++ b/x/params/client/cli/tx.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/client/context"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/client/tx"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/codec"
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
 	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/version"
@@ -18,8 +19,90 @@ import (
 	paramproposal "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/x/params/types/proposal"
 )
 
+// NewSubmitParamChangeProposalTxCmd returns a CLI command handler for creating
+// a parameter change proposal governance transaction.
+func NewSubmitParamChangeProposalTxCmd(m codec.Marshaler, txg tx.Generator, ar tx.AccountRetriever) *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "param-change [proposal-file]",
+		Args:  cobra.ExactArgs(1),
+		Short: "Submit a parameter change proposal",
+		Long: strings.TrimSpace(
+			fmt.Sprintf(`Submit a parameter proposal along with an initial deposit.
+The proposal details must be supplied via a JSON file. For values that contains
+objects, only non-empty fields will be updated.
+
+IMPORTANT: Currently parameter changes are evaluated but not validated, so it is
+very important that any "value" change is valid (ie. correct type and within bounds)
+for its respective parameter, eg. "MaxValidators" should be an integer and not a decimal.
+
+Proper vetting of a parameter change proposal should prevent this from happening
+(no deposits should occur during the governance process), but it should be noted
+regardless.
+
+Example:
+$ %s tx gov submit-proposal param-change <path/to/proposal.json> --from=<key_or_address>
+
+Where proposal.json contains:
+
+{
+  "title": "Staking Param Change",
+  "description": "Update max validators",
+  "changes": [
+    {
+      "subspace": "staking",
+      "key": "MaxValidators",
+      "value": 105
+    }
+  ],
+  "deposit": "1000stake"
+}
+`,
+				version.ClientName,
+			),
+		),
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			inBuf := bufio.NewReader(cmd.InOrStdin())
+			cliCtx := context.NewCLIContextWithInput(inBuf).WithMarshaler(m)
+			txf := tx.NewFactoryFromCLI(inBuf).WithTxGenerator(txg).WithAccountRetriever(ar)
+
+			proposal, err := paramscutils.ParseParamChangeProposalJSON(m, args[0])
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			from := cliCtx.GetFromAddress()
+			content := paramproposal.NewParameterChangeProposal(
+				proposal.Title, proposal.Description, proposal.Changes.ToParamChanges(),
+			)
+
+			deposit, err := sdk.ParseCoins(proposal.Deposit)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			msg := govtypes.NewMsgSubmitProposal(content, deposit, from)
+			if err := msg.ValidateBasic(); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+
+			return tx.GenerateOrBroadcastTx(cliCtx, txf, msg)
+		},
+	}
+
+	return cmd
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Deprecated
+//
+// TODO: Remove once client-side Protobuf migration has been completed.
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
 // GetCmdSubmitProposal implements a command handler for submitting a parameter
 // change proposal transaction.
+//
+// TODO: Remove once client-side Protobuf migration has been completed.
+// ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/5864
 func GetCmdSubmitProposal(cdc *codec.Codec) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "param-change [proposal-file]",
diff --git a/x/params/client/utils/utils.go b/x/params/client/utils/utils.go
index 2cac0b21a..cb3199bef 100644
--- a/x/params/client/utils/utils.go
+++ b/x/params/client/utils/utils.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func (pcj ParamChangesJSON) ToParamChanges() []proposal.ParamChange {
 
 // ParseParamChangeProposalJSON reads and parses a ParamChangeProposalJSON from
 // file.
-func ParseParamChangeProposalJSON(cdc *codec.Codec, proposalFile string) (ParamChangeProposalJSON, error) {
+func ParseParamChangeProposalJSON(cdc codec.JSONMarshaler, proposalFile string) (ParamChangeProposalJSON, error) {
 	proposal := ParamChangeProposalJSON{}
 
 	contents, err := ioutil.ReadFile(proposalFile)