diff --git a/server/init.go b/server/init.go
index 09d97338e..8c82d2796 100644
--- a/server/init.go
+++ b/server/init.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 
 	sdk "github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/types"
+	"github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/wire"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"github.com/tendermint/go-crypto/keys"
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ func (c initCmd) run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	testnetInfo.NodeID = nodeKey.ID()
-	out, err := json.MarshalIndent(testnetInfo, "", "  ")
+	out, err := wire.MarshalJSONIndent(cdc, testnetInfo)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -194,13 +195,13 @@ func addGenesisState(filename string, appState json.RawMessage) error {
 	}
 
 	var doc GenesisDoc
-	err = json.Unmarshal(bz, &doc)
+	err = cdc.UnmarshalJSON(bz, &doc)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
 	doc["app_state"] = appState
-	out, err := json.MarshalIndent(doc, "", "  ")
+	out, err := wire.MarshalJSONIndent(cdc, doc)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/wire/wire.go b/wire/wire.go
index 9c366b6fb..32c82a676 100644
--- a/wire/wire.go
+++ b/wire/wire.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package wire
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+
 	"github.com/tendermint/go-amino"
 	"github.com/tendermint/go-crypto"
 )
@@ -15,3 +18,17 @@ func NewCodec() *Codec {
 func RegisterCrypto(cdc *Codec) {
 	crypto.RegisterAmino(cdc)
 }
+
+func MarshalJSONIndent(cdc *Codec, obj interface{}) ([]byte, error) {
+	bz, err := cdc.MarshalJSON(obj)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	var out bytes.Buffer
+	err = json.Indent(&out, bz, "", "  ")
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return out.Bytes(), nil
+}