diff --git a/cmd/ethkey/message.go b/cmd/ethkey/message.go
index 1a58eeb536fa5..8d253783ceb1b 100644
--- a/cmd/ethkey/message.go
+++ b/cmd/ethkey/message.go
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/accounts"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/accounts/keystore"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/cmd/utils"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ To sign a message contained in a file, use the --msgfile flag.
 			utils.Fatalf("Error decrypting key: %v", err)
 		}
 
-		signature, err := crypto.Sign(signHash(message), key.PrivateKey)
+		signature, err := crypto.Sign(accounts.TextHash(message), key.PrivateKey)
 		if err != nil {
 			utils.Fatalf("Failed to sign message: %v", err)
 		}
@@ -113,7 +114,7 @@ It is possible to refer to a file containing the message.`,
 			utils.Fatalf("Signature encoding is not hexadecimal: %v", err)
 		}
 
-		recoveredPubkey, err := crypto.SigToPub(signHash(message), signature)
+		recoveredPubkey, err := crypto.SigToPub(accounts.TextHash(message), signature)
 		if err != nil || recoveredPubkey == nil {
 			utils.Fatalf("Signature verification failed: %v", err)
 		}
diff --git a/cmd/ethkey/utils.go b/cmd/ethkey/utils.go
index b81e70913b5b4..ed492272e33f1 100644
--- a/cmd/ethkey/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/ethkey/utils.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/cmd/utils"
-	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/crypto"
 	"gopkg.in/urfave/cli.v1"
 )
 
@@ -46,18 +45,6 @@ func getPassphrase(ctx *cli.Context, confirmation bool) string {
 	return utils.GetPassPhrase("", confirmation)
 }
 
-// signHash is a helper function that calculates a hash for the given message
-// that can be safely used to calculate a signature from.
-//
-// The hash is calculated as
-//   keccak256("\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n"${message length}${message}).
-//
-// This gives context to the signed message and prevents signing of transactions.
-func signHash(data []byte) []byte {
-	msg := fmt.Sprintf("\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n%d%s", len(data), data)
-	return crypto.Keccak256([]byte(msg))
-}
-
 // mustPrintJSON prints the JSON encoding of the given object and
 // exits the program with an error message when the marshaling fails.
 func mustPrintJSON(jsonObject interface{}) {
diff --git a/signer/core/signed_data.go b/signer/core/signed_data.go
index 9bf47be799d8d..48559bd98cf72 100644
--- a/signer/core/signed_data.go
+++ b/signer/core/signed_data.go
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ func (api *SignerAPI) determineSignatureFormat(ctx context.Context, contentType
 		req = &SignDataRequest{ContentType: mediaType, Rawdata: cliqueRlp, Messages: messages, Hash: sighash}
 	default: // also case TextPlain.Mime:
 		// Calculates an Ethereum ECDSA signature for:
-		// hash = keccak256("\x19${byteVersion}Ethereum Signed Message:\n${message length}${message}")
+		// hash = keccak256("\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n${message length}${message}")
 		// We expect it to be a string
 		if stringData, ok := data.(string); !ok {
 			return nil, useEthereumV, fmt.Errorf("input for text/plain must be an hex-encoded string")
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ func (api *SignerAPI) determineSignatureFormat(ctx context.Context, contentType
 	return req, useEthereumV, nil
 }
 
-// SignTextWithValidator signs the given message which can be further recovered
+// SignTextValidator signs the given message which can be further recovered
 // with the given validator.
 // hash = keccak256("\x19\x00"${address}${data}).
 func SignTextValidator(validatorData apitypes.ValidatorData) (hexutil.Bytes, string) {
@@ -271,11 +271,11 @@ func (api *SignerAPI) EcRecover(ctx context.Context, data hexutil.Bytes, sig hex
 	//
 	// Note, this function is compatible with eth_sign and personal_sign. As such it recovers
 	// the address of:
-	// hash = keccak256("\x19${byteVersion}Ethereum Signed Message:\n${message length}${message}")
+	// hash = keccak256("\x19Ethereum Signed Message:\n${message length}${message}")
 	// addr = ecrecover(hash, signature)
 	//
 	// Note, the signature must conform to the secp256k1 curve R, S and V values, where
-	// the V value must be be 27 or 28 for legacy reasons.
+	// the V value must be 27 or 28 for legacy reasons.
 	//
 	// https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/wiki/Management-APIs#personal_ecRecover
 	if len(sig) != 65 {