diff --git a/baseapp/baseapp_test.go b/baseapp/baseapp_test.go
index 931e7ef50..05038ce2c 100644
--- a/baseapp/baseapp_test.go
+++ b/baseapp/baseapp_test.go
@@ -832,8 +832,8 @@ func TestDeliverTx(t *testing.T) {
 			require.True(t, res.IsOK(), fmt.Sprintf("%v", res))
 			events := res.GetEvents()
 			require.Len(t, events, 3, "should contain ante handler, message type and counter events respectively")
-			require.Equal(t, counterEvent("ante_handler", counter).ToABCIEvents()[0], events[0], "ante handler event")
-			require.Equal(t, counterEvent(sdk.EventTypeMessage, counter).ToABCIEvents()[0], events[2], "msg handler update counter event")
+			require.Equal(t, sdk.MarkEventsToIndex(counterEvent("ante_handler", counter).ToABCIEvents(), map[string]struct{}{})[0], events[0], "ante handler event")
+			require.Equal(t, sdk.MarkEventsToIndex(counterEvent(sdk.EventTypeMessage, counter).ToABCIEvents(), map[string]struct{}{})[0], events[2], "msg handler update counter event")
 		}
 
 		app.EndBlock(abci.RequestEndBlock{})
diff --git a/types/events.go b/types/events.go
index 988cd05ea..d334d3d60 100644
--- a/types/events.go
+++ b/types/events.go
@@ -203,7 +203,9 @@ func StringifyEvents(events []abci.Event) StringEvents {
 // MarkEventsToIndex returns the set of ABCI events, where each event's attribute
 // has it's index value marked based on the provided set of events to index.
 func MarkEventsToIndex(events []abci.Event, indexSet map[string]struct{}) []abci.Event {
+	indexAll := len(indexSet) == 0
 	updatedEvents := make([]abci.Event, len(events))
+
 	for i, e := range events {
 		updatedEvent := abci.Event{
 			Type:       e.Type,
@@ -215,7 +217,7 @@ func MarkEventsToIndex(events []abci.Event, indexSet map[string]struct{}) []abci
 			updatedAttr := abci.EventAttribute{
 				Key:   attr.Key,
 				Value: attr.Value,
-				Index: index,
+				Index: index || indexAll,
 			}
 
 			updatedEvent.Attributes[j] = updatedAttr
diff --git a/types/events_test.go b/types/events_test.go
index ad855f71a..ad8bf767a 100644
--- a/types/events_test.go
+++ b/types/events_test.go
@@ -95,8 +95,23 @@ func TestMarkEventsToIndex(t *testing.T) {
 		expected []abci.Event
 	}{
 		"empty index set": {
-			events:   events,
-			expected: events,
+			events: events,
+			expected: []abci.Event{
+				{
+					Type: "message",
+					Attributes: []abci.EventAttribute{
+						{Key: []byte("sender"), Value: []byte("foo"), Index: true},
+						{Key: []byte("recipient"), Value: []byte("bar"), Index: true},
+					},
+				},
+				{
+					Type: "staking",
+					Attributes: []abci.EventAttribute{
+						{Key: []byte("deposit"), Value: []byte("5"), Index: true},
+						{Key: []byte("unbond"), Value: []byte("10"), Index: true},
+					},
+				},
+			},
 			indexSet: map[string]struct{}{},
 		},
 		"index some events": {