diff --git a/CHANGELOG-Agoric.md b/CHANGELOG-Agoric.md
index 99e512fc1c3e..2c7981c58842 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG-Agoric.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG-Agoric.md
@@ -44,3 +44,4 @@ Ref: https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/
 ### Bug Fixes
 
 * (snapshots) [#304](https://github.com/agoric-labs/cosmos-sdk/pull/304) raise the per snapshot item limit. Fixes [Agoric/agoric-sdk#8325](https://github.com/Agoric/agoric-sdk/issues/8325)
+* (baseapp) [#305](https://github.com/agoric-labs/cosmos-sdk/pull/305) Make sure we don't execute blocks beyond the halt height. Port of [cosmos/cosmos-sdk#16639](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/16639)
diff --git a/baseapp/abci.go b/baseapp/abci.go
index b046de0ae0f9..1c04c4334262 100644
--- a/baseapp/abci.go
+++ b/baseapp/abci.go
@@ -5,10 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
-	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
@@ -133,6 +131,8 @@ func (app *BaseApp) BeginBlock(req abci.RequestBeginBlock) (res abci.ResponseBeg
 		))
 	}
 
+	app.checkHalt(req.Header.Height, req.Header.Time)
+
 	if err := app.validateHeight(req); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
@@ -303,6 +303,23 @@ func (app *BaseApp) DeliverTx(req abci.RequestDeliverTx) (res abci.ResponseDeliv
 	}
 }
 
+// checkHalt checkes if height or time exceeds halt-height or halt-time respectively.
+func (app *BaseApp) checkHalt(height int64, time time.Time) {
+	var halt bool
+	switch {
+	case app.haltHeight > 0 && uint64(height) > app.haltHeight:
+		halt = true
+
+	case app.haltTime > 0 && time.Unix() > int64(app.haltTime):
+		halt = true
+	}
+
+	if halt {
+		app.logger.Info("halt per configuration", "height", app.haltHeight, "time", app.haltTime)
+		panic(errors.New("halt application"))
+	}
+}
+
 // Commit implements the ABCI interface. It will commit all state that exists in
 // the deliver state's multi-store and includes the resulting commit ID in the
 // returned abci.ResponseCommit. Commit will set the check state based on the
@@ -359,24 +376,6 @@ func (app *BaseApp) CommitWithoutSnapshot() (abci.ResponseCommit, int64) {
 	// empty/reset the deliver state
 	app.deliverState = nil
 
-	var halt bool
-
-	switch {
-	case app.haltHeight > 0 && uint64(header.Height) >= app.haltHeight:
-		halt = true
-
-	case app.haltTime > 0 && header.Time.Unix() >= int64(app.haltTime):
-		halt = true
-	}
-
-	if halt {
-		// Halt the binary and allow Tendermint to receive the ResponseCommit
-		// response with the commit ID hash. This will allow the node to successfully
-		// restart and process blocks assuming the halt configuration has been
-		// reset or moved to a more distant value.
-		app.halt()
-	}
-
 	var snapshotHeight int64
 	if app.snapshotInterval > 0 && uint64(header.Height)%app.snapshotInterval == 0 {
 		snapshotHeight = header.Height
@@ -385,28 +384,6 @@ func (app *BaseApp) CommitWithoutSnapshot() (abci.ResponseCommit, int64) {
 	return res, snapshotHeight
 }
 
-// halt attempts to gracefully shutdown the node via SIGINT and SIGTERM falling
-// back on os.Exit if both fail.
-func (app *BaseApp) halt() {
-	app.logger.Info("halting node per configuration", "height", app.haltHeight, "time", app.haltTime)
-
-	p, err := os.FindProcess(os.Getpid())
-	if err == nil {
-		// attempt cascading signals in case SIGINT fails (os dependent)
-		sigIntErr := p.Signal(syscall.SIGINT)
-		sigTermErr := p.Signal(syscall.SIGTERM)
-
-		if sigIntErr == nil || sigTermErr == nil {
-			return
-		}
-	}
-
-	// Resort to exiting immediately if the process could not be found or killed
-	// via SIGINT/SIGTERM signals.
-	app.logger.Info("failed to send SIGINT/SIGTERM; exiting...")
-	os.Exit(0)
-}
-
 // Snapshot takes a snapshot of the current state and prunes any old snapshottypes.
 // It should be started as a goroutine
 func (app *BaseApp) Snapshot(height int64) {
diff --git a/baseapp/abci_test.go b/baseapp/abci_test.go
index 18b8991ee144..7a584dfba0b9 100644
--- a/baseapp/abci_test.go
+++ b/baseapp/abci_test.go
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@ package baseapp
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	abci "github.com/tendermint/tendermint/abci/types"
@@ -218,3 +220,59 @@ func (ps *paramStore) Get(_ sdk.Context, key []byte, ptr interface{}) {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestABCI_HaltChain(t *testing.T) {
+	logger := defaultLogger()
+	db := dbm.NewMemDB()
+	name := t.Name()
+
+	testCases := []struct {
+		name        string
+		haltHeight  uint64
+		haltTime    uint64
+		blockHeight int64
+		blockTime   int64
+		expHalt     bool
+	}{
+		{"default", 0, 0, 10, 0, false},
+		{"halt-height-edge", 10, 0, 10, 0, false},
+		{"halt-height", 10, 0, 11, 0, true},
+		{"halt-time-edge", 0, 10, 1, 10, false},
+		{"halt-time", 0, 10, 1, 11, true},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			defer func() {
+				rec := recover()
+				var err error
+				if rec != nil {
+					err = rec.(error)
+				}
+				if !tc.expHalt {
+					require.NoError(t, err)
+				} else {
+					require.Error(t, err)
+					require.True(t, strings.HasPrefix(err.Error(), "halt application"))
+				}
+			}()
+
+			app := NewBaseApp(
+				name, logger, db, nil,
+				SetHaltHeight(tc.haltHeight),
+				SetHaltTime(tc.haltTime),
+			)
+
+			app.InitChain(abci.RequestInitChain{
+				InitialHeight: tc.blockHeight,
+			})
+
+			app.BeginBlock(abci.RequestBeginBlock{
+				Header: tmproto.Header{
+					Height: tc.blockHeight,
+					Time:   time.Unix(tc.blockTime, 0),
+				},
+			})
+		})
+	}
+}