diff --git a/plugins/emoji/assets/javascripts/emoji.js.erb b/plugins/emoji/assets/javascripts/emoji.js.erb
index 8d9370940..5698426a2 100644
--- a/plugins/emoji/assets/javascripts/emoji.js.erb
+++ b/plugins/emoji/assets/javascripts/emoji.js.erb
@@ -64,6 +64,14 @@
         firstSpace = text.search(/\s/),
         contents;
 
+    if (prev && prev.length) {
+      var lastToken = prev[prev.length-1];
+      if (lastToken && lastToken.charAt) {
+        var lastChar = lastToken.charAt(lastToken.length-1);
+        if (lastChar !== ' ') return;
+      }
+    }
+
     // If there is no trailing colon, check our translations that begin with colons
     if (endPos === -1 || (firstSpace !== -1 && endPos > firstSpace)) {
       translationColonRegexp.lastIndex = 0;