diff --git a/client/context/context.go b/client/context/context.go
index 311386ae966a..89a1b25f09ba 100644
--- a/client/context/context.go
+++ b/client/context/context.go
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func (ctx CLIContext) WithAccountStore(accountStore string) CLIContext {
 	return ctx
 }
 
-// WithFrom returns a copy of the context with an updated from address orname.
+// WithFrom returns a copy of the context with an updated from address or name.
 func (ctx CLIContext) WithFrom(from string) CLIContext {
 	ctx.From = from
 	return ctx
diff --git a/client/utils/utils.go b/client/utils/utils.go
index f61e9a0bd132..ed038c21b898 100644
--- a/client/utils/utils.go
+++ b/client/utils/utils.go
@@ -32,27 +32,11 @@ func SendTx(txCtx authctx.TxContext, cliCtx context.CLIContext, msgs []sdk.Msg)
 		return err
 	}
 
-	// TODO: (ref #1903) Allow for user supplied account number without
-	// automatically doing a manual lookup.
-	if txCtx.AccountNumber == 0 {
-		accNum, err := cliCtx.GetAccountNumber(from)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		txCtx = txCtx.WithAccountNumber(accNum)
-	}
-
-	// TODO: (ref #1903) Allow for user supplied account sequence without
-	// automatically doing a manual lookup.
-	if txCtx.Sequence == 0 {
-		accSeq, err := cliCtx.GetAccountSequence(from)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-
-		txCtx = txCtx.WithSequence(accSeq)
+	txCtxPtr, err := lookupTxCtx(txCtx, cliCtx, from)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
+	txCtx = *txCtxPtr
 
 	name, err := cliCtx.GetFromName()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -79,6 +63,32 @@ func SendTx(txCtx authctx.TxContext, cliCtx context.CLIContext, msgs []sdk.Msg)
 	return cliCtx.EnsureBroadcastTx(txBytes)
 }
 
+func lookupTxCtx(txCtx authctx.TxContext, cliCtx context.CLIContext, from []byte) (*authctx.TxContext, error) {
+	// TODO: (ref #1903) Allow for user supplied account number without
+	// automatically doing a manual lookup.
+	if txCtx.AccountNumber == 0 {
+		accNum, err := cliCtx.GetAccountNumber(from)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		txCtx = txCtx.WithAccountNumber(accNum)
+	}
+
+	// TODO: (ref #1903) Allow for user supplied account sequence without
+	// automatically doing a manual lookup.
+	if txCtx.Sequence == 0 {
+		accSeq, err := cliCtx.GetAccountSequence(from)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		txCtx = txCtx.WithSequence(accSeq)
+	}
+
+	return &txCtx, nil
+}
+
 // EnrichCtxWithGas calculates the gas estimate that would be consumed by the
 // transaction and set the transaction's respective value accordingly.
 func EnrichCtxWithGas(txCtx authctx.TxContext, cliCtx context.CLIContext, name, passphrase string, msgs []sdk.Msg) (authctx.TxContext, error) {