diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1e8b78ebb546..c130203c4bdd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 * (x/auth/vesting) [#16733](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16733) Panic on overflowing and negative EndTimes when creating a PeriodicVestingAccount.
 * (baseapp) [#16700](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16700) Fix consensus failure in returning no response to malformed transactions.
 * (baseapp) [#16596](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16596) Return error during ExtendVote and VerifyVoteExtension if the request height is earlier than `VoteExtensionsEnableHeight`.
+* (x/slashing) [#16784](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16784) Emit event with the correct reason in SlashWithInfractionReason.
 
 ### API Breaking Changes
 
diff --git a/x/slashing/keeper/keeper.go b/x/slashing/keeper/keeper.go
index 8d3eba35f2a8..b710e78e3f94 100644
--- a/x/slashing/keeper/keeper.go
+++ b/x/slashing/keeper/keeper.go
@@ -88,13 +88,21 @@ func (k Keeper) SlashWithInfractionReason(ctx context.Context, consAddr sdk.Cons
 		return err
 	}
 
+	reasonAttr := sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyReason, types.AttributeValueUnspecified)
+	switch infraction {
+	case stakingtypes.Infraction_INFRACTION_DOUBLE_SIGN:
+		reasonAttr = sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyReason, types.AttributeValueDoubleSign)
+	case stakingtypes.Infraction_INFRACTION_DOWNTIME:
+		reasonAttr = sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyReason, types.AttributeValueMissingSignature)
+	}
+
 	sdkCtx := sdk.UnwrapSDKContext(ctx)
 	sdkCtx.EventManager().EmitEvent(
 		sdk.NewEvent(
 			types.EventTypeSlash,
 			sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyAddress, consAddr.String()),
 			sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyPower, fmt.Sprintf("%d", power)),
-			sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyReason, types.AttributeValueDoubleSign),
+			reasonAttr,
 			sdk.NewAttribute(types.AttributeKeyBurnedCoins, coinsBurned.String()),
 		),
 	)
diff --git a/x/slashing/types/events.go b/x/slashing/types/events.go
index 600e59932ec2..af115fee539f 100644
--- a/x/slashing/types/events.go
+++ b/x/slashing/types/events.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ const (
 	AttributeKeyMissedBlocks = "missed_blocks"
 	AttributeKeyBurnedCoins  = "burned_coins"
 
+	AttributeValueUnspecified      = "unspecified"
 	AttributeValueDoubleSign       = "double_sign"
 	AttributeValueMissingSignature = "missing_signature"
 )