diff --git a/cosmwasm/contracts/wormhole/src/contract.rs b/cosmwasm/contracts/wormhole/src/contract.rs
index 76d09df6ba..13b0030c56 100644
--- a/cosmwasm/contracts/wormhole/src/contract.rs
+++ b/cosmwasm/contracts/wormhole/src/contract.rs
@@ -320,9 +320,7 @@ fn handle_post_message(
 
     let emitter = extend_address_to_32(&deps.api.addr_canonicalize(info.sender.as_str())?);
     let sequence = SEQUENCE.update(deps.storage, emitter.as_slice(), |seq| {
-        seq.map(|seq| seq + 1).ok_or(StdError::generic_err(
-            "Sequence not found - handle post message",
-        ))
+        Ok::<u64, StdError>(seq.unwrap_or_default() + 1u64)
     })?;
 
     Ok(Response::new()
diff --git a/wormchain/interchaintest/contracts/cw_wormhole.wasm b/wormchain/interchaintest/contracts/cw_wormhole.wasm
index f0c083444d..b1904ffad6 100644
Binary files a/wormchain/interchaintest/contracts/cw_wormhole.wasm and b/wormchain/interchaintest/contracts/cw_wormhole.wasm differ