diff --git a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
index d4791d69f1..705474f8d0 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
+++ b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.tsx
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ const LIMIT = 20;
 
 // Match for ascii-style ";-)" emoticons or ":wink:" shortcodes provided by emojibase
 // 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]*:?)$', 'g');
+const EMOJI_REGEX = new RegExp('(' + EMOTICON_REGEX.source + '|(?:^|\\s):[+-\\w]*:?)$', 'g');
 
 interface IEmojiShort {
     emoji: IEmoji;
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/BasicMessageComposer.tsx b/src/components/views/rooms/BasicMessageComposer.tsx
index 1fa2ad681f..2ececdeaed 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/BasicMessageComposer.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/BasicMessageComposer.tsx
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ import AutocompleteWrapperModel from "../../../editor/autocomplete";
 import DocumentPosition from "../../../editor/position";
 import {ICompletion} from "../../../autocomplete/Autocompleter";
 
-// matches emoticons which follow the start of a line, whitespace, or a plus at the start of a line
-const REGEX_EMOTICON_WHITESPACE = new RegExp('(?:^|\\s|^\\+)(' + EMOTICON_REGEX.source + ')\\s$');
+// matches emoticons which follow the start of a line or whitespace
+const REGEX_EMOTICON_WHITESPACE = new RegExp('(?:^|\\s)(' + EMOTICON_REGEX.source + ')\\s$');
 
 const IS_MAC = navigator.platform.indexOf("Mac") !== -1;