diff --git a/app/models/emoji.rb b/app/models/emoji.rb
index e737110cf23..ab61a60257a 100644
--- a/app/models/emoji.rb
+++ b/app/models/emoji.rb
@@ -146,6 +146,16 @@ class Emoji
     @unicode_replacements
   end
 
+  def self.unicode_unescape(string)
+    string.each_char.map do |c|
+      if str = unicode_replacements[c]
+        ":#{str}:"
+      else
+        c
+      end
+    end.join
+  end
+
   def self.lookup_unicode(name)
     @reverse_map ||= begin
       map = {}
diff --git a/app/models/topic.rb b/app/models/topic.rb
index b0c7b86bb09..9dafc340b2c 100644
--- a/app/models/topic.rb
+++ b/app/models/topic.rb
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ class Topic < ActiveRecord::Base
   def self.fancy_title(title)
     escaped = ERB::Util.html_escape(title)
     return unless escaped
-    HtmlPrettify.render(escaped)
+    Emoji.unicode_unescape(HtmlPrettify.render(escaped))
   end
 
   def fancy_title
diff --git a/spec/models/topic_spec.rb b/spec/models/topic_spec.rb
index 4330ccb42f0..0fc5c80cd70 100644
--- a/spec/models/topic_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/topic_spec.rb
@@ -257,11 +257,16 @@ describe Topic do
     let(:topic_bold) { build_topic_with_title("Topic with <b>bold</b> text in its title" ) }
     let(:topic_image) { build_topic_with_title("Topic with <img src='something'> image in its title" ) }
     let(:topic_script) { build_topic_with_title("Topic with <script>alert('title')</script> script in its title" ) }
+    let(:topic_emoji) { build_topic_with_title("I 💖 candy alot") }
 
     it "escapes script contents" do
       expect(topic_script.fancy_title).to eq("Topic with &lt;script&gt;alert(&lsquo;title&rsquo;)&lt;/script&gt; script in its title")
     end
 
+    it "expands emojis" do
+      expect(topic_emoji.fancy_title).to eq("I :sparkling_heart: candy alot")
+    end
+
     it "escapes bold contents" do
       expect(topic_bold.fancy_title).to eq("Topic with &lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt; text in its title")
     end