diff --git a/crypto/types/compact_bit_array.go b/crypto/types/compact_bit_array.go
index 2d81636f4..9ac23212a 100644
--- a/crypto/types/compact_bit_array.go
+++ b/crypto/types/compact_bit_array.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 )
@@ -15,14 +16,24 @@ import (
 // This is not thread safe, and is not intended for concurrent usage.
 
 // NewCompactBitArray returns a new compact bit array.
-// It returns nil if the number of bits is zero.
+// It returns nil if the number of bits is zero, or if there is any overflow
+// in the arithmetic to encounter for the number of its elements: (bits+7)/8,
+// or if the number of elements will be an unreasonably large number like
+// > maxint32 aka >2**31.
 func NewCompactBitArray(bits int) *CompactBitArray {
 	if bits <= 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
+	nElems := (bits + 7) / 8
+	if nElems <= 0 || nElems > math.MaxInt32 {
+		// We encountered an overflow here, and shouldn't pass negatives
+		// to make, nor should we allow unreasonable limits > maxint32.
+		// See https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/9162
+		return nil
+	}
 	return &CompactBitArray{
 		ExtraBitsStored: uint32(bits % 8),
-		Elems:           make([]byte, (bits+7)/8),
+		Elems:           make([]byte, nElems),
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/crypto/types/compact_bit_array_test.go b/crypto/types/compact_bit_array_test.go
index 44f97d6f4..05bc73eb3 100644
--- a/crypto/types/compact_bit_array_test.go
+++ b/crypto/types/compact_bit_array_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ package types
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+	"math"
 	"math/rand"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -239,3 +241,35 @@ func BenchmarkNumTrueBitsBefore(b *testing.B) {
 		}
 	})
 }
+
+func TestNewCompactBitArrayCrashWithLimits(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("This test can be expensive in memory")
+	}
+	tests := []struct {
+		in       int
+		mustPass bool
+	}{
+		{int(^uint(0) >> 30), false},
+		{int(^uint(0) >> 1), false},
+		{int(^uint(0) >> 2), false},
+		{int(math.MaxInt32), true},
+		{int(math.MaxInt32) + 1, true},
+		{int(math.MaxInt32) + 2, true},
+		{int(math.MaxInt32) - 7, true},
+		{int(math.MaxInt32) + 24, true},
+		{int(math.MaxInt32) * 9, false}, // results in >=maxint after (bits+7)/8
+		{1, true},
+		{0, false},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		tt := tt
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%d", tt.in), func(t *testing.T) {
+			got := NewCompactBitArray(tt.in)
+			if g := got != nil; g != tt.mustPass {
+				t.Fatalf("got!=nil=%t, want=%t", g, tt.mustPass)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}