diff --git a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
index 8a81acd498..7cd784d71c 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
+++ b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ const EMOJI_SHORTCODES: IEmojiShort[] = EMOJI.sort((a, b) => {
     emoji,
     // Include the index so that we can preserve the original order
     _orderBy: index,
-})).filter(o => o.emoji.shortcodes[0]);
+}));
 
 function score(query, space) {
     const index = space.indexOf(query);
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ export default class EmojiProvider extends AutocompleteProvider {
         super(EMOJI_REGEX);
         this.matcher = new QueryMatcher<IEmojiShort>(EMOJI_SHORTCODES, {
             keys: ['emoji.emoticon'],
-            funcs: [o => o.emoji.shortcodes.map(s => `:${s}:`).join(" ")],
+            funcs: [o => o.emoji.shortcodes.map(s => `:${s}:`)],
             // For matching against ascii equivalents
             shouldMatchWordsOnly: false,
         });
diff --git a/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.tsx b/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.tsx
index 9b2e771e64..22dbfe89b8 100644
--- a/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/emojipicker/EmojiPicker.tsx
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ export const CATEGORY_HEADER_HEIGHT = 22;
 export const EMOJI_HEIGHT = 37;
 export const EMOJIS_PER_ROW = 8;
 
+const ZERO_WIDTH_JOINER = "\u200D";
+
 interface IProps {
     selectedEmojis?: Set<string>;
     showQuickReactions?: boolean;
@@ -180,7 +182,7 @@ class EmojiPicker extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
             } else {
                 emojis = cat.id === "recent" ? this.recentlyUsed : DATA_BY_CATEGORY[cat.id];
             }
-            emojis = emojis.filter(emoji => emoji.filterString.includes(filter));
+            emojis = emojis.filter(emoji => this.emojiMatchesFilter(emoji, filter));
             this.memoizedDataByCategory[cat.id] = emojis;
             cat.enabled = emojis.length > 0;
             // The setState below doesn't re-render the header and we already have the refs for updateVisibility, so...
@@ -192,6 +194,10 @@ class EmojiPicker extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
         setTimeout(this.updateVisibility, 0);
     };
 
+    private emojiMatchesFilter = (emoji: IEmoji, filter: string): boolean =>
+        [emoji.annotation, ...emoji.shortcodes, emoji.emoticon, ...emoji.unicode.split(ZERO_WIDTH_JOINER)]
+            .some(x => x?.includes(filter));
+
     private onEnterFilter = () => {
         const btn = this.bodyRef.current.querySelector<HTMLButtonElement>(".mx_EmojiPicker_item");
         if (btn) {
diff --git a/src/components/views/emojipicker/Preview.tsx b/src/components/views/emojipicker/Preview.tsx
index da2f8dcd89..a0203bec85 100644
--- a/src/components/views/emojipicker/Preview.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/emojipicker/Preview.tsx
@@ -38,9 +38,9 @@ class Preview extends React.PureComponent<IProps> {
                     <div className="mx_EmojiPicker_name mx_EmojiPicker_preview_name">
                         {annotation}
                     </div>
-                    { shortcode ?
-                        <div className="mx_EmojiPicker_shortcode">{shortcode}</div> :
-                        null }
+                    <div className="mx_EmojiPicker_shortcode">
+                        {shortcode}
+                    </div>
                 </div>
             </div>
         );
diff --git a/src/components/views/emojipicker/QuickReactions.tsx b/src/components/views/emojipicker/QuickReactions.tsx
index 9321450fc1..ffd3ce9760 100644
--- a/src/components/views/emojipicker/QuickReactions.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/emojipicker/QuickReactions.tsx
@@ -62,7 +62,6 @@ class QuickReactions extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
     };
 
     render() {
-        const shortcode = this.state.hover?.shortcodes?.[0];
         return (
             <section className="mx_EmojiPicker_footer mx_EmojiPicker_quick mx_EmojiPicker_category">
                 <h2 className="mx_EmojiPicker_quick_header mx_EmojiPicker_category_label">
@@ -70,9 +69,7 @@ class QuickReactions extends React.Component<IProps, IState> {
                         ? _t("Quick Reactions")
                         : <React.Fragment>
                             <span className="mx_EmojiPicker_name">{this.state.hover.annotation}</span>
-                            { shortcode ?
-                                <span className="mx_EmojiPicker_shortcode">{shortcode}</span> :
-                                null }
+                            <span className="mx_EmojiPicker_shortcode">{this.state.hover.shortcodes[0]}</span>
                         </React.Fragment>
                     }
                 </h2>
diff --git a/src/emoji.ts b/src/emoji.ts
index fe9e52d35f..ec6a6654c4 100644
--- a/src/emoji.ts
+++ b/src/emoji.ts
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ export interface IEmoji {
     shortcodes: string[];
     tags?: string[];
     unicode: string;
+    skins?: any[]; // Currently unused
     emoticon?: string;
-    filterString: string;
 }
 
 // The unicode is stored without the variant selector
@@ -59,20 +59,17 @@ export const DATA_BY_CATEGORY = {
     "flags": [],
 };
 
-const ZERO_WIDTH_JOINER = "\u200D";
-
 // Store various mappings from unicode/emoticon/shortcode to the Emoji objects
-export const EMOJI: IEmoji[] = EMOJIBASE.map(emojiData => {
+export const EMOJI: IEmoji[] = EMOJIBASE.map((emojiData: Omit<IEmoji, "shortcodes">) => {
     const shortcodeData = SHORTCODES[emojiData.hexcode];
-    // Homogenize shortcodes by ensuring that everything is an array
-    const shortcodes = typeof shortcodeData === "string" ? [shortcodeData] : (shortcodeData ?? []);
-
     const emoji: IEmoji = {
         ...emojiData,
-        shortcodes,
-        // This is used as the string to match the query against when filtering emojis
-        filterString: (`${emojiData.annotation}\n${shortcodes.join('\n')}}\n${emojiData.emoticon || ''}\n` +
-            `${emojiData.unicode.split(ZERO_WIDTH_JOINER).join("\n")}`).toLowerCase(),
+        // Homogenize shortcodes by ensuring that everything is an array
+        shortcodes: typeof shortcodeData === "string" ?
+            [shortcodeData] :
+            // If there's ever a gap in shortcode coverage, we fudge it by
+            // filling it in with the emoji's CLDR annotation
+            (shortcodeData ?? [emojiData.annotation.toLowerCase().replace(/ /g, "_")]),
     };
 
     const categoryId = EMOJIBASE_GROUP_ID_TO_CATEGORY[emoji.group];