diff --git a/app/export.go b/app/export.go
index 037ad6f161..50287e204d 100644
--- a/app/export.go
+++ b/app/export.go
@@ -159,7 +159,12 @@ func (app *App) prepForZeroHeightGenesis(ctx sdk.Context, jailAllowedAddrs []str
 	counter := int16(0)
 
 	for ; iter.Valid(); iter.Next() {
-		addr := sdk.ValAddress(iter.Key()[2:])
+		key := iter.Key()
+		if len(key) <= 2 {
+			app.Logger().Error("unexpected key in staking store", "key", key)
+			continue
+		}
+		addr := sdk.ValAddress(key[2:])
 		validator, found := app.StakingKeeper.GetValidator(ctx, addr)
 		if !found {
 			panic("expected validator, not found")
diff --git a/docs/development/SIMULATION_TESTING.md b/docs/development/SIMULATION_TESTING.md
index 29697378be..1ff0ebd0af 100644
--- a/docs/development/SIMULATION_TESTING.md
+++ b/docs/development/SIMULATION_TESTING.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ make test-sim-full-app
 ### Import Export simulation test
 The import export simulation test runs a full application simulation
 and exports the application state at the end of the run.
-This state is then then imported into a new simulation.
+This state is then imported into a new simulation.
 At the end of the run we compare the keys for the application state for both the simulations
 to make sure they are the same.
 ```bash
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ make test-sim-import-export
 ### Import and run simulation test
 This simulation test exports the application state at the end of the run and imports it into a new simulation.
 ```bash
-make test-sim-import-export
+make test-sim-after-import
 ```
 ### Multi seed long test
 Multi seed long test runs a full application simulation with multiple seeds and multiple blocks.This runs the test for a longer duration compared to the multi seed short test
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ Multi seed long test runs a full application simulation with multiple seeds and
 make test-sim-multi-seed-long
 ```
 ### Multi seed short test
-Multi seed short test runs a full application simulation with multiple seeds and multiple blocks. This runs the test for a longer duration compared to the multi seed long test
+Multi seed short test runs a full application simulation with multiple seeds and multiple blocks. This runs the test for a shorter duration compared to the multi seed long test
 ```bash
 make test-sim-multi-seed-short
 ```
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ This test runs the import export simulation test for a longer duration.It uses t
 ```bash
 make test-sim-import-export-long
 ```
-### Import and run simulation test
+### Import and run simulation test long
 This test runs the import and run simulation test for a longer duration. It uses the runsim tool to run the same test in parallel threads
 ```bash
-make test-sim-after-import-longg
+make test-sim-after-import-long
 ```
 
diff --git a/tests/simulation/sim/sim_utils.go b/tests/simulation/sim/sim_utils.go
index a8d7ef7e61..e1ee19f307 100644
--- a/tests/simulation/sim/sim_utils.go
+++ b/tests/simulation/sim/sim_utils.go
@@ -77,10 +77,10 @@ func CheckExportSimulation(app runtime.AppI, config simtypes.Config, params simt
 	if config.ExportStatePath != "" {
 		exported, err := app.ExportAppStateAndValidators(false, nil, nil)
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to export app state: %w", err)
 		}
 
-		if err := os.WriteFile(config.ExportStatePath, []byte(exported.AppState), 0o600); err != nil {
+		if err := os.WriteFile(config.ExportStatePath, exported.AppState, 0o600); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ func CheckExportSimulation(app runtime.AppI, config simtypes.Config, params simt
 	if config.ExportParamsPath != "" {
 		paramsBz, err := json.MarshalIndent(params, "", " ")
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to write app state to %s: %w", config.ExportStatePath, err)
 		}
 
 		if err := os.WriteFile(config.ExportParamsPath, paramsBz, 0o600); err != nil {
diff --git a/tests/simulation/sim_test.go b/tests/simulation/sim_test.go
index 0a7d44aac6..0bf39938c4 100644
--- a/tests/simulation/sim_test.go
+++ b/tests/simulation/sim_test.go
@@ -197,8 +197,12 @@ func TestFullAppSimulation(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err, "simulation setup failed")
 
 	defer func() {
-		require.NoError(t, db.Close())
-		require.NoError(t, os.RemoveAll(dir))
+		if err := db.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error closing new database: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error removing directory %s: %v", dir, err)
+		}
 	}()
 	appOptions := make(cosmossimutils.AppOptionsMap, 0)
 	appOptions[server.FlagInvCheckPeriod] = simutils.FlagPeriodValue
@@ -256,8 +260,12 @@ func TestAppImportExport(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err, "simulation setup failed")
 
 	defer func() {
-		require.NoError(t, db.Close())
-		require.NoError(t, os.RemoveAll(dir))
+		if err := db.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error closing new database: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error removing directory %s: %v", dir, err)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	appOptions := make(cosmossimutils.AppOptionsMap, 0)
@@ -307,8 +315,12 @@ func TestAppImportExport(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err, "simulation setup failed")
 
 	defer func() {
-		require.NoError(t, newDB.Close())
-		require.NoError(t, os.RemoveAll(newDir))
+		if err := newDB.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error closing new database: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(newDir); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error removing directory %s: %v", newDir, err)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	newSimApp, err := simutils.NewSimApp(
@@ -410,8 +422,12 @@ func TestAppSimulationAfterImport(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err, "simulation setup failed")
 
 	defer func() {
-		require.NoError(t, db.Close())
-		require.NoError(t, os.RemoveAll(dir))
+		if err := db.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error closing new database: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(dir); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error removing directory %s: %v", dir, err)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	appOptions := make(cosmossimutils.AppOptionsMap, 0)
@@ -468,8 +484,12 @@ func TestAppSimulationAfterImport(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err, "simulation setup failed")
 
 	defer func() {
-		require.NoError(t, newDB.Close())
-		require.NoError(t, os.RemoveAll(newDir))
+		if err := newDB.Close(); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error closing new database: %v", err)
+		}
+		if err := os.RemoveAll(newDir); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("Error removing directory %s: %v", newDir, err)
+		}
 	}()
 
 	newSimApp, err := simutils.NewSimApp(