diff --git a/baseapp/grpcrouter_test.go b/baseapp/grpcrouter_test.go
index b381fe8a277e..cc7e0476b2b3 100644
--- a/baseapp/grpcrouter_test.go
+++ b/baseapp/grpcrouter_test.go
@@ -95,6 +95,31 @@ func TestGRPCRouterHybridHandlers(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 		assertRouterBehaviour(helper)
 	})
+
+	t.Run("any cached value is not dropped", func(t *testing.T) {
+		// ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/22779
+		qr := baseapp.NewGRPCQueryRouter()
+		interfaceRegistry := testdata.NewTestInterfaceRegistry()
+		testdata.RegisterInterfaces(interfaceRegistry)
+		qr.SetInterfaceRegistry(interfaceRegistry)
+		testdata.RegisterQueryServer(qr, testdata.QueryImpl{})
+		helper := &baseapp.QueryServiceTestHelper{
+			GRPCQueryRouter: qr,
+			Ctx:             sdk.Context{}.WithContext(context.Background()),
+		}
+
+		anyMsg, err := types.NewAnyWithValue(&testdata.Dog{})
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+
+		handler := qr.HybridHandlerByRequestName("testpb.TestAnyRequest")[0]
+
+		resp := new(testdata.TestAnyResponse)
+		err = handler(helper.Ctx, &testdata.TestAnyRequest{
+			AnyAnimal: anyMsg,
+		}, resp)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.NotNil(t, resp.HasAnimal.Animal.GetCachedValue())
+	})
 }
 
 func TestRegisterQueryServiceTwice(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/baseapp/internal/protocompat/protocompat.go b/baseapp/internal/protocompat/protocompat.go
index 004efe635e2a..43c32df35376 100644
--- a/baseapp/internal/protocompat/protocompat.go
+++ b/baseapp/internal/protocompat/protocompat.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 
 	gogoproto "github.com/cosmos/gogoproto/proto"
-	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto" //nolint: staticcheck // needed because gogoproto.Merge does not work consistently. See NOTE: comments.
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	proto2 "google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/reflect/protoreflect"
@@ -124,19 +123,13 @@ func makeGogoHybridHandler(prefMethod protoreflect.MethodDescriptor, cdc codec.B
 				return fmt.Errorf("invalid request type %T, method %s does not accept protov2 messages", inReq, prefMethod.FullName())
 			}
 			resp, err := method.Handler(handler, ctx, func(msg any) error {
-				// merge! ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/18003
-				// NOTE: using gogoproto.Merge will fail for some reason unknown to me, but
-				// using proto.Merge with gogo messages seems to work fine.
-				proto.Merge(msg.(gogoproto.Message), inReq)
+				setPointer(msg, inReq)
 				return nil
 			}, nil)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			// merge resp, ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/18003
-			// NOTE: using gogoproto.Merge will fail for some reason unknown to me, but
-			// using proto.Merge with gogo messages seems to work fine.
-			proto.Merge(outResp.(gogoproto.Message), resp.(gogoproto.Message))
+			setPointer(outResp, resp)
 			return nil
 		}, nil
 	}
@@ -168,20 +161,13 @@ func makeGogoHybridHandler(prefMethod protoreflect.MethodDescriptor, cdc codec.B
 		case gogoproto.Message:
 			// we can just call the handler after making a copy of the message, for safety reasons.
 			resp, err := method.Handler(handler, ctx, func(msg any) error {
-				// ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/18003
-				asGogoProto := msg.(gogoproto.Message)
-				// NOTE: using gogoproto.Merge will fail for some reason unknown to me, but
-				// using proto.Merge with gogo messages seems to work fine.
-				proto.Merge(asGogoProto, m)
+				setPointer(msg, m)
 				return nil
 			}, nil)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			// merge on the resp, ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/18003
-			// NOTE: using gogoproto.Merge will fail for some reason unknown to me, but
-			// using proto.Merge with gogo messages seems to work fine.
-			proto.Merge(outResp.(gogoproto.Message), resp.(gogoproto.Message))
+			setPointer(outResp, resp)
 			return nil
 		default:
 			panic("unreachable")
@@ -246,3 +232,9 @@ func ResponseFullNameFromMethodDesc(sd *grpc.ServiceDesc, method grpc.MethodDesc
 	}
 	return methodDesc.Output().FullName(), nil
 }
+
+// since proto.Merge breaks due to the custom cosmos sdk any, we are forced to do this ugly setPointer hack.
+// ref: https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/issues/22779
+func setPointer(dst, src any) {
+	reflect.ValueOf(dst).Elem().Set(reflect.ValueOf(src).Elem())
+}