diff --git a/core/types/transaction_marshalling.go b/core/types/transaction_marshalling.go
index 9d2bb6b61c..eeeb297ce6 100644
--- a/core/types/transaction_marshalling.go
+++ b/core/types/transaction_marshalling.go
@@ -420,9 +420,10 @@ func (tx *Transaction) UnmarshalJSON(input []byte) error {
 			return errors.New("missing required field 'nonce' in transaction")
 		}
 		itx.Nonce = uint64(*dec.Nonce)
-		if dec.To != nil {
-			itx.To = dec.To
+		if dec.To == nil {
+			return errors.New("missing required field 'to' in transaction")
 		}
+		itx.To = *dec.To
 		if dec.Gas == nil {
 			return errors.New("missing required field 'gas' for txdata")
 		}