diff --git a/lib/pretty_text.rb b/lib/pretty_text.rb
index d50326d4e..ebe1503c9 100644
--- a/lib/pretty_text.rb
+++ b/lib/pretty_text.rb
@@ -246,13 +246,24 @@ module PrettyText
     end
   end
 
+  def self.emoji_unicode(text)
+    return text unless SiteSetting.enable_emoji?
+
+    Emoji.db.each do |e|
+      text.gsub!(e['emoji'], ":#{e['aliases'][0]}:")
+    end
+
+    text
+  end
+
   def self.cook(text, opts={})
     options = opts.dup
 
     # we have a minor inconsistency
     options[:topicId] = opts[:topic_id]
 
-    sanitized = markdown(text.dup, options)
+    working_text = emoji_unicode(text.dup)
+    sanitized = markdown(working_text, options)
 
     doc = Nokogiri::HTML.fragment(sanitized)
 
diff --git a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
index 64e5851c7..4fd92a845 100644
--- a/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/pretty_text_spec.rb
@@ -378,7 +378,17 @@ HTML
       table = "<table><thead><tr><th>test</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a</td></tr></tbody></table>"
       expect(PrettyText.cook(table)).to match_html("")
     end
+  end
 
+  describe "emoji" do
+    it "replaces unicode emoji with our emoji sets if emoji is enabled" do
+      expect(PrettyText.cook("💣")).to match(/\:bomb\:/)
+    end
+
+    it "doesn't replace unicode emoji if emoji is disabled" do
+      SiteSetting.enable_emoji = false 
+      expect(PrettyText.cook("💣")).not_to match(/\:bomb\:/)
+    end
   end
 
 end