diff --git a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
index 64c17b4bd..cfc4a7529 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG_PENDING.md
@@ -20,3 +20,4 @@ program](https://hackerone.com/tendermint).
 ### IMPROVEMENTS:
 
 ### BUG FIXES:
+- [config] \#3868 move misplaced `max_msg_bytes` into mempool section
diff --git a/config/toml.go b/config/toml.go
index 5679a1caf..b79d14d91 100644
--- a/config/toml.go
+++ b/config/toml.go
@@ -294,6 +294,9 @@ max_txs_bytes = {{ .Mempool.MaxTxsBytes }}
 # Size of the cache (used to filter transactions we saw earlier) in transactions
 cache_size = {{ .Mempool.CacheSize }}
 
+# Limit the size of TxMessage
+max_msg_bytes = {{ .Mempool.MaxMsgBytes }}
+
 ##### fast sync configuration options #####
 [fastsync]
 
@@ -302,9 +305,6 @@ cache_size = {{ .Mempool.CacheSize }}
 #   2) "v1" - refactor of v0 version for better testability
 version = "{{ .FastSync.Version }}"
 
-# Limit the size of TxMessage
-max_msg_bytes = {{ .Mempool.MaxMsgBytes }}
-
 ##### consensus configuration options #####
 [consensus]
 
diff --git a/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md b/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md
index 204958149..8fd369d8f 100644
--- a/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/tendermint-core/configuration.md
@@ -240,6 +240,9 @@ max_txs_bytes = 1073741824
 # Size of the cache (used to filter transactions we saw earlier) in transactions
 cache_size = 10000
 
+# Limit the size of TxMessage
+max_msg_bytes = 1048576
+
 ##### fast sync configuration options #####
 [fastsync]
 
@@ -248,9 +251,6 @@ cache_size = 10000
 #   2) "v1" - refactor of v0 version for better testability
 version = "v0"
 
-# Limit the size of TxMessage
-max_msg_bytes = 1048576
-
 ##### consensus configuration options #####
 [consensus]