diff --git a/ts/components/CompositionInput.tsx b/ts/components/CompositionInput.tsx
index e61f8b2053f..00af7581971 100644
--- a/ts/components/CompositionInput.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/CompositionInput.tsx
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ import { getClassNamesFor } from '../util/getClassNamesFor';
 import { isNotNil } from '../util/isNotNil';
 import * as log from '../logging/log';
 import * as Errors from '../types/errors';
-import { useEmojiSearch } from '../hooks/useEmojiSearch';
 import type { LinkPreviewForUIType } from '../types/message/LinkPreviews';
 import { StagedLinkPreview } from './conversation/StagedLinkPreview';
 import type { DraftEditMessageType } from '../model-types.d';
@@ -79,6 +78,9 @@ import { dropNull } from '../util/dropNull';
 import { SimpleQuillWrapper } from './SimpleQuillWrapper';
 import type { EmojiSkinTone } from './fun/data/emojis';
 import { FUN_STATIC_EMOJI_CLASS } from './fun/FunEmoji';
+import { useFunEmojiSearch } from './fun/useFunEmojiSearch';
+import type { EmojiCompletionOptions } from '../quill/emoji/completion';
+import { useFunEmojiLocalizer } from './fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer';
 
 Quill.register(
   {
@@ -192,7 +194,7 @@ export function CompositionInput(props: Props): React.ReactElement {
   } = props;
 
   const [emojiCompletionElement, setEmojiCompletionElement] =
-    React.useState<JSX.Element>();
+    React.useState<JSX.Element | null>();
   const [formattingChooserElement, setFormattingChooserElement] =
     React.useState<JSX.Element>();
   const [lastSelectionRange, setLastSelectionRange] =
@@ -770,7 +772,8 @@ export function CompositionInput(props: Props): React.ReactElement {
   const callbacksRef = React.useRef(unstaleCallbacks);
   callbacksRef.current = unstaleCallbacks;
 
-  const search = useEmojiSearch(i18n.getLocale());
+  const emojiSearch = useFunEmojiSearch();
+  const emojiLocalizer = useFunEmojiLocalizer();
 
   const reactQuill = React.useMemo(
     () => {
@@ -839,8 +842,9 @@ export function CompositionInput(props: Props): React.ReactElement {
               onPickEmoji: (emoji: EmojiPickDataType) =>
                 callbacksRef.current.onPickEmoji(emoji),
               emojiSkinToneDefault,
-              search,
-            },
+              emojiSearch,
+              emojiLocalizer,
+            } satisfies EmojiCompletionOptions,
             autoSubstituteAsciiEmojis: {
               emojiSkinToneDefault,
             } satisfies AutoSubstituteAsciiEmojisOptions,
diff --git a/ts/components/emoji/EmojiPicker.tsx b/ts/components/emoji/EmojiPicker.tsx
index 5132f952017..35c26454e06 100644
--- a/ts/components/emoji/EmojiPicker.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/emoji/EmojiPicker.tsx
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import { dataByCategory } from './lib';
 import type { LocalizerType } from '../../types/Util';
 import { isSingleGrapheme } from '../../util/grapheme';
 import { missingCaseError } from '../../util/missingCaseError';
-import { useEmojiSearch } from '../../hooks/useEmojiSearch';
 import { FunStaticEmoji } from '../fun/FunEmoji';
 import { strictAssert } from '../../util/assert';
 import {
@@ -35,7 +34,9 @@ import {
   getEmojiVariantByParentKeyAndSkinTone,
   isEmojiEnglishShortName,
   EMOJI_SKIN_TONE_TO_NUMBER,
+  getEmojiParentByKey,
 } from '../fun/data/emojis';
+import { useFunEmojiSearch } from '../fun/useFunEmojiSearch';
 
 export type EmojiPickDataType = {
   skinTone: EmojiSkinTone;
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@ export const EmojiPicker = React.memo(
       const [selectedTone, setSelectedTone] =
         React.useState(emojiSkinToneDefault);
 
-      const search = useEmojiSearch(i18n.getLocale());
+      const emojiSearch = useFunEmojiSearch();
 
       const handleToggleSearch = React.useCallback(
         (
@@ -261,7 +262,13 @@ export const EmojiPicker = React.memo(
 
       const emojiGrid = React.useMemo(() => {
         if (searchText) {
-          return chunk(search(searchText), COL_COUNT);
+          return chunk(
+            emojiSearch(searchText).map(result => {
+              const parent = getEmojiParentByKey(result.parentKey);
+              return parent.englishShortNameDefault;
+            }),
+            COL_COUNT
+          );
         }
 
         const chunks = flatMap(renderableCategories, cat =>
@@ -272,7 +279,7 @@ export const EmojiPicker = React.memo(
         );
 
         return [...chunk(firstRecent, COL_COUNT), ...chunks];
-      }, [firstRecent, renderableCategories, searchText, search]);
+      }, [firstRecent, renderableCategories, searchText, emojiSearch]);
 
       const rowCount = emojiGrid.length;
 
diff --git a/ts/components/emoji/lib.ts b/ts/components/emoji/lib.ts
index 789742f6ea2..4417e311339 100644
--- a/ts/components/emoji/lib.ts
+++ b/ts/components/emoji/lib.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 // Camelcase disabled due to emoji-datasource using snake_case
 /* eslint-disable camelcase */
-import Fuse from 'fuse.js';
 import {
   compact,
   flatMap,
@@ -12,9 +11,7 @@ import {
   map,
   mapValues,
   sortBy,
-  take,
 } from 'lodash';
-import type { LocaleEmojiType } from '../../types/emoji';
 import { getOwn } from '../../util/getOwn';
 import {
   EMOJI_SKIN_TONE_TO_KEY,
@@ -155,103 +152,6 @@ export function getEmojiData(
   return base;
 }
 
-export type SearchFnType = (query: string, count?: number) => Array<string>;
-
-export type SearchEmojiListType = ReadonlyArray<
-  Pick<LocaleEmojiType, 'shortName' | 'rank' | 'tags'>
->;
-
-type CachedSearchFnType = Readonly<{
-  localeEmoji: SearchEmojiListType;
-  fn: SearchFnType;
-}>;
-
-let cachedSearchFn: CachedSearchFnType | undefined;
-
-export function createSearch(localeEmoji: SearchEmojiListType): SearchFnType {
-  if (cachedSearchFn && cachedSearchFn.localeEmoji === localeEmoji) {
-    return cachedSearchFn.fn;
-  }
-
-  const knownSet = new Set<string>();
-
-  const knownEmoji = localeEmoji.filter(({ shortName }) => {
-    knownSet.add(shortName);
-    return dataByShortName[shortName] != null;
-  });
-
-  for (const entry of data) {
-    if (!knownSet.has(entry.short_name)) {
-      knownEmoji.push({
-        shortName: entry.short_name,
-        rank: 0,
-        tags: entry.short_names,
-      });
-    }
-  }
-
-  let maxShortNameLength = 0;
-  for (const { shortName } of knownEmoji) {
-    maxShortNameLength = Math.max(maxShortNameLength, shortName.length);
-  }
-
-  const fuse = new Fuse(knownEmoji, {
-    shouldSort: false,
-    threshold: 0.2,
-    minMatchCharLength: 1,
-    keys: ['shortName', 'tags'],
-    includeScore: true,
-  });
-
-  const fuseExactPrefix = new Fuse(knownEmoji, {
-    // We re-rank and sort manually below
-    shouldSort: false,
-    threshold: 0, // effectively a prefix search
-    minMatchCharLength: 2,
-    keys: ['shortName', 'tags'],
-    includeScore: true,
-  });
-
-  const fn = (query: string, count = 0): Array<string> => {
-    // when we only have 2 characters, do an exact prefix match
-    // to avoid matching on emoticon, like :-P
-    const fuseIndex = query.length === 2 ? fuseExactPrefix : fuse;
-
-    const rawResults = fuseIndex.search(query.substr(0, 32));
-
-    const rankedResults = rawResults.map(entry => {
-      const rank = entry.item.rank || 1e9;
-
-      // Rank exact prefix matches in [0,1] range
-      if (entry.item.shortName.startsWith(query)) {
-        return {
-          score: entry.item.shortName.length / maxShortNameLength,
-          item: entry.item,
-        };
-      }
-
-      // Other matches in [1,], ordered by score and rank
-      return {
-        score: 1 + (entry.score ?? 0) + rank / knownEmoji.length,
-        item: entry.item,
-      };
-    });
-
-    const results = rankedResults
-      .sort((a, b) => a.score - b.score)
-      .map(result => result.item.shortName);
-
-    if (count) {
-      return take(results, count);
-    }
-
-    return results;
-  };
-
-  cachedSearchFn = { localeEmoji, fn };
-  return fn;
-}
-
 const shortNames = new Set([
   ...map(data, 'short_name'),
   ...compact<string>(flatMap(data, 'short_names')),
diff --git a/ts/components/fun/data/emojis.ts b/ts/components/fun/data/emojis.ts
index 87da09a803c..3fc1c10f41c 100644
--- a/ts/components/fun/data/emojis.ts
+++ b/ts/components/fun/data/emojis.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import type {
   FunEmojiSearchIndexEntry,
 } from '../useFunEmojiSearch';
 import type { FunEmojiLocalizerIndex } from '../useFunEmojiLocalizer';
+import { removeDiacritics } from '../../../util/removeDiacritics';
 
 // Import emoji-datasource dynamically to avoid costly typechecking.
 // eslint-disable-next-line import/no-dynamic-require, @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
@@ -551,6 +552,26 @@ export function emojiVariantConstant(input: string): EmojiVariantData {
   return getEmojiVariantByKey(key);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Completions
+ */
+
+/** For displaying in the ui */
+export function normalizeShortNameCompletionDisplay(shortName: string): string {
+  return removeDiacritics(shortName)
+    .normalize('NFD')
+    .replaceAll(' ', '_')
+    .toLowerCase();
+}
+
+/** For matching in search utils */
+export function normalizeShortNameCompletionQuery(query: string): string {
+  return removeDiacritics(query)
+    .normalize('NFD')
+    .replaceAll(/[\s_-]+/gi, ' ')
+    .toLowerCase();
+}
+
 /**
  * Emojify
  */
diff --git a/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelEmojis.tsx b/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelEmojis.tsx
index 2c3b595b86e..440c1dda7c8 100644
--- a/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelEmojis.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelEmojis.tsx
@@ -186,7 +186,9 @@ export function FunPanelEmojis({
       return [
         toGridSectionNode(
           FunSectionCommon.SearchResults,
-          searchEmojis(searchQuery)
+          searchEmojis(searchQuery).map(result => {
+            return result.parentKey;
+          })
         ),
       ];
     }
diff --git a/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelStickers.tsx b/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelStickers.tsx
index 1847bb2a30b..bd6b728a78b 100644
--- a/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelStickers.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/fun/panels/FunPanelStickers.tsx
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ import {
   FunSubNavScroller,
 } from '../base/FunSubNav';
 import {
+  type EmojiParentKey,
   emojiVariantConstant,
   getEmojiParentKeyByValue,
   isEmojiParentValue,
@@ -228,7 +229,11 @@ export function FunPanelStickers({
 
   const sections = useMemo(() => {
     if (searchQuery !== '') {
-      const emojiKeys = new Set(searchEmojis(searchQuery));
+      const emojiKeys = new Set<EmojiParentKey>();
+
+      for (const result of searchEmojis(searchQuery)) {
+        emojiKeys.add(result.parentKey);
+      }
 
       const allStickers = installedStickerPacks.flatMap(pack => pack.stickers);
       const matchingStickers = allStickers.filter(sticker => {
diff --git a/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer.tsx b/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer.tsx
index 589b69cd879..e847496e0fb 100644
--- a/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // Copyright 2025 Signal Messenger, LLC
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
-import { useCallback } from 'react';
+import { useMemo } from 'react';
 import type { EmojiParentKey, EmojiVariantKey } from './data/emojis';
 import {
   getEmojiParentByKey,
@@ -28,26 +28,33 @@ export function createFunEmojiLocalizerIndex(
 
     const variantKey = getEmojiVariantKeyByValue(entry.emoji);
     const parentKey = getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey(variantKey);
-    index.set(parentKey, entry.tags.at(0) ?? entry.shortName);
+    const localizedShortName = entry.tags.at(0) ?? entry.shortName;
+    index.set(parentKey, localizedShortName);
   }
 
   return index;
 }
 
+/** @internal exported for tests */
+export function _createFunEmojiLocalizer(
+  emojiLocalizerIndex: FunEmojiLocalizerIndex
+): FunEmojiLocalizer {
+  return variantKey => {
+    const parentKey = getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey(variantKey);
+    const localeShortName = emojiLocalizerIndex.get(parentKey);
+    if (localeShortName != null) {
+      return localeShortName;
+    }
+    // Fallback to english short name
+    const parent = getEmojiParentByKey(parentKey);
+    return parent.englishShortNameDefault;
+  };
+}
+
 export function useFunEmojiLocalizer(): FunEmojiLocalizer {
   const { emojiLocalizerIndex } = useFunEmojiLocalization();
-  const emojiLocalizer: FunEmojiLocalizer = useCallback(
-    variantKey => {
-      const parentKey = getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey(variantKey);
-      const localeShortName = emojiLocalizerIndex.get(parentKey);
-      if (localeShortName != null) {
-        return localeShortName;
-      }
-      // Fallback to english short name
-      const parent = getEmojiParentByKey(parentKey);
-      return parent.englishShortNameDefault;
-    },
-    [emojiLocalizerIndex]
-  );
+  const emojiLocalizer = useMemo(() => {
+    return _createFunEmojiLocalizer(emojiLocalizerIndex);
+  }, [emojiLocalizerIndex]);
   return emojiLocalizer;
 }
diff --git a/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch.tsx b/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch.tsx
index 45777cb8021..1726851128c 100644
--- a/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch.tsx
+++ b/ts/components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch.tsx
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
   getEmojiParentByKey,
   getEmojiParentKeyByValue,
   isEmojiParentValue,
+  normalizeShortNameCompletionQuery,
 } from './data/emojis';
 import type { LocaleEmojiListType } from '../../types/emoji';
 import { useFunEmojiLocalization } from './FunEmojiLocalizationProvider';
@@ -23,10 +24,14 @@ export type FunEmojiSearchIndexEntry = Readonly<{
 
 export type FunEmojiSearchIndex = ReadonlyArray<FunEmojiSearchIndexEntry>;
 
+export type FunEmojiSearchResult = Readonly<{
+  parentKey: EmojiParentKey;
+}>;
+
 export type FunEmojiSearch = (
   query: string,
   limit?: number
-) => ReadonlyArray<EmojiParentKey>;
+) => ReadonlyArray<FunEmojiSearchResult>;
 
 export function createFunEmojiSearchIndex(
   localeEmojiList: LocaleEmojiListType
@@ -44,8 +49,10 @@ export function createFunEmojiSearchIndex(
     results.push({
       key: parentKey,
       rank: localeEmoji.rank,
-      shortName: localeEmoji.shortName,
-      shortNames: localeEmoji.tags,
+      shortName: normalizeShortNameCompletionQuery(localeEmoji.shortName),
+      shortNames: localeEmoji.tags.map(tag => {
+        return normalizeShortNameCompletionQuery(tag);
+      }),
       emoticon: emoji.emoticonDefault,
       emoticons: emoji.emoticons,
     });
@@ -67,6 +74,7 @@ const FuseFuzzyOptions: Fuse.IFuseOptions<FunEmojiSearchIndexEntry> = {
   minMatchCharLength: 1,
   keys: FuseKeys,
   includeScore: true,
+  includeMatches: true,
 };
 
 const FuseExactOptions: Fuse.IFuseOptions<FunEmojiSearchIndexEntry> = {
@@ -75,49 +83,48 @@ const FuseExactOptions: Fuse.IFuseOptions<FunEmojiSearchIndexEntry> = {
   minMatchCharLength: 1,
   keys: FuseKeys,
   includeScore: true,
+  includeMatches: true,
 };
 
-function createFunEmojiSearch(
+/** @internal exported for tests */
+export function _createFunEmojiSearch(
   emojiSearchIndex: FunEmojiSearchIndex
 ): FunEmojiSearch {
   const fuseIndex = Fuse.createIndex(FuseKeys, emojiSearchIndex);
   const fuseFuzzy = new Fuse(emojiSearchIndex, FuseFuzzyOptions, fuseIndex);
   const fuseExact = new Fuse(emojiSearchIndex, FuseExactOptions, fuseIndex);
 
-  return function emojiSearch(query, limit = 200) {
+  return function emojiSearch(rawQuery, limit = 200) {
+    const query = normalizeShortNameCompletionQuery(rawQuery);
+
     // Prefer exact matches at 2 characters
     const fuse = query.length < 2 ? fuseExact : fuseFuzzy;
 
-    const rawResults = fuse.search(query.substring(0, 32), {
-      limit: limit * 2,
-    });
+    const rawResults = fuse.search(query.substring(0, 32));
 
-    const rankedResults = rawResults.map(result => {
+    // Note: lodash's sortBy() only calls each iteratee once
+    const sortedResults = sortBy(rawResults, result => {
       const rank = result.item.rank ?? 1e9;
 
+      const localizedQueryMatch =
+        result.item.shortNames.at(0) ?? result.item.shortName;
+
       // Exact prefix matches in [0,1] range
-      if (result.item.shortName.startsWith(query)) {
-        return {
-          score: result.item.shortName.length / query.length,
-          item: result.item,
-        };
+      if (localizedQueryMatch.startsWith(query)) {
+        // Note: localizedQueryMatch will always be <= in length to the query
+        const matchRatio = query.length / localizedQueryMatch.length; // 1-0
+        return 1 - matchRatio;
       }
 
+      const queryScore = result.score ?? 0; // 0-1
+      const rankScore = rank / emojiSearchIndex.length; // 0-1
+
       // Other matches in [1,], ordered by score and rank
-      return {
-        score: 1 + (result.score ?? 0) + rank / emojiSearchIndex.length,
-        item: result.item,
-      };
+      return 1 + queryScore + rankScore;
     });
 
-    const sortedResults = sortBy(rankedResults, result => {
-      return result.score;
-    });
-
-    const truncatedResults = sortedResults.slice(0, limit);
-
-    return truncatedResults.map(result => {
-      return result.item.key;
+    return sortedResults.slice(0, limit).map(result => {
+      return { parentKey: result.item.key };
     });
   };
 }
@@ -125,7 +132,7 @@ function createFunEmojiSearch(
 export function useFunEmojiSearch(): FunEmojiSearch {
   const { emojiSearchIndex } = useFunEmojiLocalization();
   const emojiSearch = useMemo(() => {
-    return createFunEmojiSearch(emojiSearchIndex);
+    return _createFunEmojiSearch(emojiSearchIndex);
   }, [emojiSearchIndex]);
   return emojiSearch;
 }
diff --git a/ts/hooks/useEmojiSearch.ts b/ts/hooks/useEmojiSearch.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 7379e87bc4e..00000000000
--- a/ts/hooks/useEmojiSearch.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2024 Signal Messenger, LLC
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-only
-
-import { useEffect, useCallback, useRef } from 'react';
-
-import { data, createSearch } from '../components/emoji/lib';
-import type { SearchEmojiListType } from '../components/emoji/lib';
-import { drop } from '../util/drop';
-import * as log from '../logging/log';
-
-const uninitialized: SearchEmojiListType = data.map(
-  ({ short_name: shortName, short_names: shortNames }) => {
-    return {
-      shortName,
-      rank: 0,
-      tags: shortNames,
-    };
-  }
-);
-
-const defaultSearch = createSearch(uninitialized);
-
-export function useEmojiSearch(
-  locale: string
-): ReturnType<typeof createSearch> {
-  const searchRef = useRef(defaultSearch);
-
-  useEffect(() => {
-    let canceled = false;
-
-    async function run() {
-      let result: SearchEmojiListType | undefined;
-      try {
-        result = await window.SignalContext.getLocalizedEmojiList(locale);
-      } catch (error) {
-        log.error(`Failed to get localized emoji list for ${locale}`, error);
-      }
-
-      // Fallback
-      if (result === undefined) {
-        try {
-          result = await window.SignalContext.getLocalizedEmojiList('en');
-        } catch (error) {
-          log.error('Failed to get fallback localized emoji list');
-        }
-      }
-
-      if (!canceled && result !== undefined) {
-        searchRef.current = createSearch(result);
-      }
-    }
-    drop(run());
-
-    return () => {
-      canceled = true;
-    };
-  }, [locale]);
-
-  return useCallback((...args) => {
-    return searchRef.current?.(...args);
-  }, []);
-}
diff --git a/ts/quill/emoji/completion.tsx b/ts/quill/emoji/completion.tsx
index b36965325b0..d41a2ab7afa 100644
--- a/ts/quill/emoji/completion.tsx
+++ b/ts/quill/emoji/completion.tsx
@@ -12,25 +12,27 @@ import classNames from 'classnames';
 import { createPortal } from 'react-dom';
 import type { VirtualElement } from '@popperjs/core';
 import { convertShortName, isShortName } from '../../components/emoji/lib';
-import type { SearchFnType } from '../../components/emoji/lib';
 import type { EmojiPickDataType } from '../../components/emoji/EmojiPicker';
 import { getBlotTextPartitions, matchBlotTextPartitions } from '../util';
 import { handleOutsideClick } from '../../util/handleOutsideClick';
 import * as log from '../../logging/log';
 import { FunStaticEmoji } from '../../components/fun/FunEmoji';
-import { strictAssert } from '../../util/assert';
 import {
   EmojiSkinTone,
-  getEmojiParentKeyByEnglishShortName,
+  getEmojiParentByKey,
   getEmojiVariantByParentKeyAndSkinTone,
-  isEmojiEnglishShortName,
+  normalizeShortNameCompletionDisplay,
 } from '../../components/fun/data/emojis';
+import type { FunEmojiSearchResult } from '../../components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch';
+import { type FunEmojiSearch } from '../../components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch';
+import { type FunEmojiLocalizer } from '../../components/fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer';
 
 export type EmojiCompletionOptions = {
   onPickEmoji: (emoji: EmojiPickDataType) => void;
   setEmojiPickerElement: (element: JSX.Element | null) => void;
   emojiSkinToneDefault: EmojiSkinTone | null;
-  search: SearchFnType;
+  emojiSearch: FunEmojiSearch;
+  emojiLocalizer: FunEmojiLocalizer;
 };
 
 export type InsertEmojiOptionsType = Readonly<{
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ export type InsertEmojiOptionsType = Readonly<{
 }>;
 
 export class EmojiCompletion {
-  results: Array<string>;
+  results: ReadonlyArray<FunEmojiSearchResult>;
 
   index: number;
 
@@ -197,7 +199,7 @@ export class EmojiCompletion {
         return PASS_THROUGH;
       }
 
-      const showEmojiResults = this.options.search(leftTokenText, 10);
+      const showEmojiResults = this.options.emojiSearch(leftTokenText, 10);
 
       if (showEmojiResults.length > 0) {
         this.results = showEmojiResults;
@@ -229,7 +231,7 @@ export class EmojiCompletion {
       return;
     }
 
-    const emoji = this.results[this.index];
+    const result = this.results[this.index];
     const [leafText] = this.getCurrentLeafTextPartitions();
 
     const tokenTextMatch = /:([-+0-9\p{Alpha}_]*)(:?)$/iu.exec(leafText);
@@ -239,9 +241,10 @@ export class EmojiCompletion {
     }
 
     const [, tokenText] = tokenTextMatch;
+    const parent = getEmojiParentByKey(result.parentKey);
 
     this.insertEmoji({
-      shortName: emoji,
+      shortName: parent.englishShortNameDefault,
       index: range.index - tokenText.length - 1,
       range: tokenText.length + 1,
       withTrailingSpace: true,
@@ -362,26 +365,30 @@ export class EmojiCompletion {
             role="listbox"
             aria-expanded
             aria-activedescendant={`emoji-result--${
-              emojiResults.length ? emojiResults[emojiResultsIndex] : ''
+              emojiResults.length
+                ? emojiResults[emojiResultsIndex].parentKey
+                : ''
             }`}
             tabIndex={0}
           >
-            {emojiResults.map((emoji, index) => {
-              strictAssert(
-                isEmojiEnglishShortName(emoji),
-                'Must be valid english short name'
-              );
-              const emojiParentKey = getEmojiParentKeyByEnglishShortName(emoji);
+            {emojiResults.map((result, index) => {
               const emojiVariant = getEmojiVariantByParentKeyAndSkinTone(
-                emojiParentKey,
+                result.parentKey,
                 this.options.emojiSkinToneDefault ?? EmojiSkinTone.None
               );
 
+              const localeShortName = this.options.emojiLocalizer(
+                emojiVariant.key
+              );
+
+              const normalized =
+                normalizeShortNameCompletionDisplay(localeShortName);
+
               return (
                 <button
                   type="button"
-                  key={emoji}
-                  id={`emoji-result--${emoji}`}
+                  key={result.parentKey}
+                  id={`emoji-result--${result.parentKey}`}
                   role="option button"
                   aria-selected={emojiResultsIndex === index}
                   onClick={() => {
@@ -401,7 +408,7 @@ export class EmojiCompletion {
                     size={16}
                   />
                   <div className="module-composition-input__suggestions__row__short-name">
-                    :{emoji}:
+                    :{normalized}:
                   </div>
                 </button>
               );
diff --git a/ts/test-electron/quill/emoji/completion_test.tsx b/ts/test-electron/quill/emoji/completion_test.tsx
index b3256d7774c..30b09016465 100644
--- a/ts/test-electron/quill/emoji/completion_test.tsx
+++ b/ts/test-electron/quill/emoji/completion_test.tsx
@@ -9,8 +9,53 @@ import type {
   EmojiCompletionOptions,
   InsertEmojiOptionsType,
 } from '../../../quill/emoji/completion';
-import { createSearch } from '../../../components/emoji/lib';
-import { EmojiSkinTone } from '../../../components/fun/data/emojis';
+import {
+  EmojiSkinTone,
+  emojiVariantConstant,
+  getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey,
+} from '../../../components/fun/data/emojis';
+import {
+  _createFunEmojiSearch,
+  createFunEmojiSearchIndex,
+} from '../../../components/fun/useFunEmojiSearch';
+import {
+  _createFunEmojiLocalizer,
+  createFunEmojiLocalizerIndex,
+} from '../../../components/fun/useFunEmojiLocalizer';
+import type { LocaleEmojiListType } from '../../../types/emoji';
+
+const EMOJI_VARIANTS = {
+  SMILE: emojiVariantConstant('\u{1F604}'),
+  SMILE_CAT: emojiVariantConstant('\u{1F638}'),
+  FRIEND_SHRIMP: emojiVariantConstant('\u{1F364}'),
+} as const;
+
+const PARENT_KEYS = {
+  SMILE: getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey(EMOJI_VARIANTS.SMILE.key),
+  SMILE_CAT: getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey(EMOJI_VARIANTS.SMILE_CAT.key),
+  FRIED_SHRIMP: getEmojiParentKeyByVariantKey(EMOJI_VARIANTS.FRIEND_SHRIMP.key),
+} as const;
+
+const EMOJI_LIST: LocaleEmojiListType = [
+  {
+    emoji: EMOJI_VARIANTS.SMILE.value,
+    shortName: 'smile',
+    tags: [],
+    rank: 0,
+  },
+  {
+    emoji: EMOJI_VARIANTS.SMILE_CAT.value,
+    shortName: 'smile_cat',
+    tags: [],
+    rank: 0,
+  },
+  {
+    emoji: EMOJI_VARIANTS.FRIEND_SHRIMP.value,
+    shortName: 'fried_shrimp',
+    tags: [],
+    rank: 0,
+  },
+];
 
 describe('emojiCompletion', () => {
   let emojiCompletion: EmojiCompletion;
@@ -29,14 +74,19 @@ describe('emojiCompletion', () => {
       setSelection: sinon.stub(),
       updateContents: sinon.stub(),
     };
+
+    const searchIndex = createFunEmojiSearchIndex(EMOJI_LIST);
+    const localizerIndex = createFunEmojiLocalizerIndex(EMOJI_LIST);
+
+    const emojiSearch = _createFunEmojiSearch(searchIndex);
+    const emojiLocalizer = _createFunEmojiLocalizer(localizerIndex);
+
     const options: EmojiCompletionOptions = {
       onPickEmoji: sinon.stub(),
       setEmojiPickerElement: sinon.stub(),
       emojiSkinToneDefault: EmojiSkinTone.None,
-      search: createSearch([
-        { shortName: 'smile', tags: [], rank: 0 },
-        { shortName: 'smile_cat', tags: [], rank: 0 },
-      ]),
+      emojiSearch,
+      emojiLocalizer,
     };
 
     // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
@@ -64,7 +114,7 @@ describe('emojiCompletion', () => {
     let insertEmojiStub: sinon.SinonStub<[InsertEmojiOptionsType], void>;
 
     beforeEach(() => {
-      emojiCompletion.results = ['joy'];
+      emojiCompletion.results = [{ parentKey: PARENT_KEYS.SMILE }];
       emojiCompletion.index = 5;
       insertEmojiStub = sinon
         .stub(emojiCompletion, 'insertEmoji')
@@ -171,7 +221,7 @@ describe('emojiCompletion', () => {
       });
 
       it('stores the results and renders', () => {
-        assert.equal(emojiCompletion.results.length, 10);
+        assert.equal(emojiCompletion.results.length, 2);
         assert.equal((emojiCompletion.render as sinon.SinonStub).called, true);
       });
     });
@@ -353,7 +403,10 @@ describe('emojiCompletion', () => {
     let insertEmojiStub: sinon.SinonStub<[InsertEmojiOptionsType], void>;
 
     beforeEach(() => {
-      emojiCompletion.results = ['smile', 'smile_cat'];
+      emojiCompletion.results = [
+        { parentKey: PARENT_KEYS.SMILE },
+        { parentKey: PARENT_KEYS.SMILE_CAT },
+      ];
       emojiCompletion.index = 1;
       insertEmojiStub = sinon.stub(emojiCompletion, 'insertEmoji');
     });
diff --git a/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json b/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json
index c002021806f..252392eea70 100644
--- a/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json
+++ b/ts/util/lint/exceptions.json
@@ -1994,6 +1994,27 @@
     "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
     "updated": "2023-01-18T22:32:43.901Z"
   },
+  {
+    "rule": "React-useRef",
+    "path": "ts/components/fun/FunGif.tsx",
+    "line": "  const ref = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);",
+    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
+    "updated": "2025-03-21T23:22:07.920Z"
+  },
+  {
+    "rule": "React-useRef",
+    "path": "ts/components/fun/FunGif.tsx",
+    "line": "  const timerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout>>();",
+    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
+    "updated": "2025-03-21T23:22:07.920Z"
+  },
+  {
+    "rule": "React-useRef",
+    "path": "ts/components/fun/FunGif.tsx",
+    "line": "  const videoRef = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);",
+    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
+    "updated": "2025-03-24T18:57:50.198Z"
+  },
   {
     "rule": "React-useRef",
     "path": "ts/components/fun/base/FunImage.tsx",
@@ -2127,27 +2148,6 @@
     "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
     "updated": "2025-02-19T20:14:46.879Z"
   },
-  {
-    "rule": "React-useRef",
-    "path": "ts/components/fun/FunGif.tsx",
-    "line": "  const ref = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);",
-    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
-    "updated": "2025-03-21T23:22:07.920Z"
-  },
-  {
-    "rule": "React-useRef",
-    "path": "ts/components/fun/FunGif.tsx",
-    "line": "  const timerRef = useRef<ReturnType<typeof setTimeout>>();",
-    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
-    "updated": "2025-03-21T23:22:07.920Z"
-  },
-  {
-    "rule": "React-useRef",
-    "path": "ts/components/fun/FunGif.tsx",
-    "line": "  const videoRef = useRef<HTMLVideoElement>(null);",
-    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
-    "updated": "2025-03-24T18:57:50.198Z"
-  },
   {
     "rule": "React-useRef",
     "path": "ts/components/stickers/StickerButton.tsx",
@@ -2156,14 +2156,6 @@
     "updated": "2022-06-14T22:04:43.988Z",
     "reasonDetail": "Handling outside click"
   },
-  {
-    "rule": "React-useRef",
-    "path": "ts/hooks/useEmojiSearch.ts",
-    "line": "  const searchRef = useRef(defaultSearch);",
-    "reasonCategory": "usageTrusted",
-    "updated": "2024-03-16T18:34:38.165Z",
-    "reasonDetail": "Quill requires an immutable reference to the search function"
-  },
   {
     "rule": "React-useRef",
     "path": "ts/hooks/useIntersectionObserver.ts",