diff --git a/cmd/tendermint/commands/reindex_event_test.go b/cmd/tendermint/commands/reindex_event_test.go
index 452a6b2a8..c76ce6d9a 100644
--- a/cmd/tendermint/commands/reindex_event_test.go
+++ b/cmd/tendermint/commands/reindex_event_test.go
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/internal/state/mocks"
 	prototmstate "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/proto/tendermint/state"
 	"github.com/tendermint/tendermint/types"
+
+	_ "github.com/lib/pq" // for the psql sink
 )
 
 const (
diff --git a/internal/state/indexer/sink/psql/psql.go b/internal/state/indexer/sink/psql/psql.go
index 4db6f4435..18e95b97d 100644
--- a/internal/state/indexer/sink/psql/psql.go
+++ b/internal/state/indexer/sink/psql/psql.go
@@ -39,6 +39,8 @@ func NewEventSink(connStr, chainID string) (*EventSink, error) {
 	db, err := sql.Open(driverName, connStr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
+	} else if err := db.Ping(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	return &EventSink{
diff --git a/node/node_test.go b/node/node_test.go
index 0ea910d2f..b3c651cba 100644
--- a/node/node_test.go
+++ b/node/node_test.go
@@ -568,49 +568,16 @@ func TestNodeSetEventSink(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Nil(t, ns)
 	assert.Equal(t, errors.New("the psql connection settings cannot be empty"), err)
 
-	var psqlConn = "test"
-
-	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"psql"}
-	cfg.TxIndex.PsqlConn = psqlConn
-	eventSinks = setupTest(t, cfg)
-
-	assert.Equal(t, 1, len(eventSinks))
-	assert.Equal(t, indexer.PSQL, eventSinks[0].Type())
-
-	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"psql", "kv"}
-	cfg.TxIndex.PsqlConn = psqlConn
-	eventSinks = setupTest(t, cfg)
-
-	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(eventSinks))
-	// we use map to filter the duplicated sinks, so it's not guarantee the order when append sinks.
-	if eventSinks[0].Type() == indexer.KV {
-		assert.Equal(t, indexer.PSQL, eventSinks[1].Type())
-	} else {
-		assert.Equal(t, indexer.PSQL, eventSinks[0].Type())
-		assert.Equal(t, indexer.KV, eventSinks[1].Type())
-	}
-
-	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"kv", "psql"}
-	cfg.TxIndex.PsqlConn = psqlConn
-	eventSinks = setupTest(t, cfg)
-
-	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(eventSinks))
-	if eventSinks[0].Type() == indexer.KV {
-		assert.Equal(t, indexer.PSQL, eventSinks[1].Type())
-	} else {
-		assert.Equal(t, indexer.PSQL, eventSinks[0].Type())
-		assert.Equal(t, indexer.KV, eventSinks[1].Type())
-	}
+	// N.B. We can't create a PSQL event sink without starting a postgres
+	// instance for it to talk to. The indexer service tests exercise that case.
 
 	var e = errors.New("found duplicated sinks, please check the tx-index section in the config.toml")
-	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"psql", "kv", "Kv"}
-	cfg.TxIndex.PsqlConn = psqlConn
+	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"null", "kv", "Kv"}
 	_, err = newDefaultNode(cfg, logger)
 	require.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, e, err)
 
-	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"Psql", "kV", "kv", "pSql"}
-	cfg.TxIndex.PsqlConn = psqlConn
+	cfg.TxIndex.Indexer = []string{"Null", "kV", "kv", "nUlL"}
 	_, err = newDefaultNode(cfg, logger)
 	require.Error(t, err)
 	assert.Equal(t, e, err)