diff --git a/docs/app-dev/abci-spec.md b/docs/app-dev/abci-spec.md
index 69b8620dd..63570f7f8 100644
--- a/docs/app-dev/abci-spec.md
+++ b/docs/app-dev/abci-spec.md
@@ -116,11 +116,16 @@ See below for more details on the message types and how they are used.
 - **Response**:
   - `ConsensusParams (ConsensusParams)`: Initial
     consensus-critical parameters.
-  - `Validators ([]ValidatorUpdate)`: Initial validator set.
+  - `Validators ([]ValidatorUpdate)`: Initial validator set (if non empty).
 - **Usage**:
   - Called once upon genesis.
-  - List of validators in the response will be used as the initial validator set
-    (regardless of what was sent in the request).
+  - If ResponseInitChain.Validators is empty, the initial validator set will be the RequestInitChain.Validators
+  - If ResponseInitChain.Validators is not empty, the initial validator set will be the
+    ResponseInitChain.Validators (regardless of what is in RequestInitChain.Validators).
+  - This allows the app to decide if it wants to accept the initial validator
+    set proposed by tendermint (ie. in the genesis file), or if it wants to use
+    a different one (perhaps computed based on some application specific
+    information in the genesis file).
 
 ### Query
 
diff --git a/types/protobuf.go b/types/protobuf.go
index 1363430b0..30e74f15e 100644
--- a/types/protobuf.go
+++ b/types/protobuf.go
@@ -209,14 +209,6 @@ func (pb2tm) ValidatorUpdates(vals []abci.ValidatorUpdate) ([]*Validator, error)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		// If the app provided an address too, it must match.
-		// This is just a sanity check.
-		/*if len(v.Address) > 0 {
-			if !bytes.Equal(pub.Address(), v.Address) {
-				return nil, fmt.Errorf("Validator.Address (%X) does not match PubKey.Address (%X)",
-					v.Address, pub.Address())
-			}
-		}*/
 		tmVals[i] = NewValidator(pub, v.Power)
 	}
 	return tmVals, nil