diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 074310835..aa56543de 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ module ApplicationHelper
     end
   end
 
+  def unescape_emoji(title)
+    PrettyText.unescape_emoji(title)
+  end
+
   def with_format(format, &block)
     old_formats = formats
     self.formats = [format]
diff --git a/app/views/user_notifications/digest.html.erb b/app/views/user_notifications/digest.html.erb
index 61862b061..959562b2e 100644
--- a/app/views/user_notifications/digest.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/user_notifications/digest.html.erb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
       <%- @featured_topics.each_with_index do |t, i| %>
         <div class='featured-topic'>
-          <%= link_to t.title, "#{Discourse.base_url}#{t.relative_url}" %>
+          <a href='<%= Discourse.base_url + t.relative_url %>'><%= raw unescape_emoji(t.title) %></a>
           <br/>
           <%= category_badge(t.category, inline_style: true, absolute_url: true) %>
         </div>
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
       <%- @new_topics.each do |t| %>
         <ul>
           <li>
-            <%= link_to t.title, "#{Discourse.base_url}#{t.relative_url}" %>
+            <a href='<%= Discourse.base_url + t.relative_url %>'><%= raw unescape_emoji(t.title) %></a>
             <span class='post-count'><%= t.posts_count %></span>
             <%= category_badge(t.category, inline_style: true, absolute_url: true) %>
           </li>
diff --git a/lib/pretty_text.rb b/lib/pretty_text.rb
index 0881296e8..f6e2d523b 100644
--- a/lib/pretty_text.rb
+++ b/lib/pretty_text.rb
@@ -226,6 +226,14 @@ module PrettyText
     end
   end
 
+  def self.unescape_emoji(title)
+    protect do
+      v8["title"] = title
+      decorate_context(v8)
+      v8.eval("Discourse.Emoji.unescape(title)")
+    end
+  end
+
   def self.cook(text, opts={})
     options = opts.dup