diff --git a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
index c4dd3ec9cc..147d68f5ff 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
+++ b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ import EMOTICON_REGEX from 'emojibase-regex/emoticon';
 const LIMIT = 20;
 
 // Match for ascii-style ";-)" emoticons or ":wink:" shortcodes provided by emojibase
-const EMOJI_REGEX = new RegExp('(' + EMOTICON_REGEX.source + '|:[+-\\w]*:?)$', 'g');
+// anchored to only match from the start of parts otherwise it'll show emoji suggestions whilst typing matrix IDs
+const EMOJI_REGEX = new RegExp('(' + EMOTICON_REGEX.source + '|(?:^|\\s):[+-\\w]*:?)$', 'g');
 
 interface IEmojiShort {
     emoji: IEmoji;
diff --git a/src/editor/parts.ts b/src/editor/parts.ts
index 23a93692b6..5ed0c0529f 100644
--- a/src/editor/parts.ts
+++ b/src/editor/parts.ts
@@ -186,7 +186,11 @@ abstract class PlainBasePart extends BasePart {
         }
         // when not pasting or dropping text, reject characters that should start a pill candidate
         if (inputType !== "insertFromPaste" && inputType !== "insertFromDrop") {
-            return chr !== "@" && chr !== "#" && chr !== ":" && chr !== "+";
+            if (chr !== "@" && chr !== "#" && chr !== ":" && chr !== "+") {
+                return true;
+            }
+            // only split if the previous character is a space
+            return this._text[offset - 1] !== " ";
         }
         return true;
     }
diff --git a/test/editor/model-test.js b/test/editor/model-test.js
index 2a3584d508..2df9fdd573 100644
--- a/test/editor/model-test.js
+++ b/test/editor/model-test.js
@@ -281,5 +281,38 @@ describe('editor/model', function() {
             expect(model.parts[0].type).toBe("plain");
             expect(model.parts[0].text).toBe("try #define");
         });
+
+        it('insert room pill without splitting at the colon', () => {
+            const renderer = createRenderer();
+            const pc = createPartCreator([{resourceId: "#room:server"}]);
+            const model = new EditorModel([], pc, renderer);
+
+            model.update("#roo", "insertText", {offset: 4, atNodeEnd: true});
+
+            expect(renderer.count).toBe(1);
+            expect(model.parts.length).toBe(1);
+            expect(model.parts[0].type).toBe("pill-candidate");
+            expect(model.parts[0].text).toBe("#roo");
+
+            model.update("#room:s", "insertText", {offset: 7, atNodeEnd: true});
+
+            expect(renderer.count).toBe(2);
+            expect(model.parts.length).toBe(1);
+            expect(model.parts[0].type).toBe("pill-candidate");
+            expect(model.parts[0].text).toBe("#room:s");
+        });
+
+        it('allow typing e-mail addresses without splitting at the @', () => {
+            const renderer = createRenderer();
+            const pc = createPartCreator([{resourceId: "@alice", label: "Alice"}]);
+            const model = new EditorModel([], pc, renderer);
+
+            model.update("foo@a", "insertText", {offset: 5, atNodeEnd: true});
+
+            expect(renderer.count).toBe(1);
+            expect(model.parts.length).toBe(1);
+            expect(model.parts[0].type).toBe("plain");
+            expect(model.parts[0].text).toBe("foo@a");
+        });
     });
 });