diff --git a/src/HtmlUtils.js b/src/HtmlUtils.js
index 2ab635081f..c0792e6d14 100644
--- a/src/HtmlUtils.js
+++ b/src/HtmlUtils.js
@@ -24,8 +24,39 @@ import escape from 'lodash/escape';
 import emojione from 'emojione';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
 
+emojione.imagePathSVG = 'emojione/svg/';
+emojione.imageType = 'svg';
+
 const EMOJI_REGEX = new RegExp(emojione.unicodeRegexp+"+", "gi");
 
+/* modified from https://github.com/Ranks/emojione/blob/master/lib/js/emojione.js
+ * because we want to include emoji shortnames in title text
+ */
+export function unicodeToImage(str) {
+    let replaceWith, unicode, alt;
+    const mappedUnicode = emojione.mapUnicodeToShort();
+
+    str = str.replace(emojione.regUnicode, function(unicodeChar) {
+        if ( (typeof unicodeChar === 'undefined') || (unicodeChar === '') || (!(unicodeChar in emojione.jsEscapeMap)) ) {
+            // if the unicodeChar doesnt exist just return the entire match
+            return unicodeChar;
+        }
+        else {
+            // get the unicode codepoint from the actual char
+            unicode = emojione.jsEscapeMap[unicodeChar];
+
+            // depending on the settings, we'll either add the native unicode as the alt tag, otherwise the shortname
+            alt = (emojione.unicodeAlt) ? emojione.convert(unicode.toUpperCase()) : mappedUnicode[unicode];
+            const title = mappedUnicode[unicode];
+
+            replaceWith = `<img class="emojione" title="${title}" alt="${alt}" src="${emojione.imagePathSVG}${unicode}.svg${emojione.cacheBustParam}"/>`;
+            return replaceWith;
+        }
+    });
+
+    return str;
+};
+
 var sanitizeHtmlParams = {
     allowedTags: [
         'font', // custom to matrix for IRC-style font coloring
@@ -211,8 +242,7 @@ module.exports = {
                 };
             }
             safeBody = sanitizeHtml(body, sanitizeHtmlParams);
-            emojione.imageType = 'svg';
-            safeBody = emojione.unicodeToImage(safeBody);
+            safeBody = unicodeToImage(safeBody);
         }
         finally {
             delete sanitizeHtmlParams.textFilter;
@@ -239,7 +269,6 @@ module.exports = {
     },
 
     emojifyText: function(text) {
-        emojione.imageType = 'svg';
         return {
             __html: emojione.unicodeToImage(escape(text)),
         };
diff --git a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.js b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.js
index 574144e95b..37a50ee8d8 100644
--- a/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.js
+++ b/src/autocomplete/EmojiProvider.js
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export default class EmojiProvider extends AutocompleteProvider {
                     completion: shortnameToUnicode(shortname),
                     component: (
                         <div className="mx_Autocomplete_Completion">
-                            <span dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{__html: imageHTML}}></span> {shortname}
+                            <span style={{maxWidth: '1em'}} dangerouslySetInnerHTML={{__html: imageHTML}}></span>&nbsp;&nbsp;{shortname}
                         </div>
                     ),
                     range,
diff --git a/src/component-index.js b/src/component-index.js
index 97f8882b82..c7355b5b4c 100644
--- a/src/component-index.js
+++ b/src/component-index.js
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ module.exports.components['views.dialogs.SetDisplayNameDialog'] = require('./com
 module.exports.components['views.dialogs.TextInputDialog'] = require('./components/views/dialogs/TextInputDialog');
 module.exports.components['views.elements.EditableText'] = require('./components/views/elements/EditableText');
 module.exports.components['views.elements.EditableTextContainer'] = require('./components/views/elements/EditableTextContainer');
+module.exports.components['views.elements.EmojiText'] = require('./components/views/elements/EmojiText');
 module.exports.components['views.elements.PowerSelector'] = require('./components/views/elements/PowerSelector');
 module.exports.components['views.elements.ProgressBar'] = require('./components/views/elements/ProgressBar');
 module.exports.components['views.elements.TintableSvg'] = require('./components/views/elements/TintableSvg');
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ module.exports.components['views.messages.MFileBody'] = require('./components/vi
 module.exports.components['views.messages.MImageBody'] = require('./components/views/messages/MImageBody');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.MVideoBody'] = require('./components/views/messages/MVideoBody');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.MessageEvent'] = require('./components/views/messages/MessageEvent');
+module.exports.components['views.messages.SenderProfile'] = require('./components/views/messages/SenderProfile');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.TextualBody'] = require('./components/views/messages/TextualBody');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.TextualEvent'] = require('./components/views/messages/TextualEvent');
 module.exports.components['views.messages.UnknownBody'] = require('./components/views/messages/UnknownBody');
diff --git a/src/components/structures/RoomStatusBar.js b/src/components/structures/RoomStatusBar.js
index 9a0d3dbbdd..c6f2d6500b 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/RoomStatusBar.js
+++ b/src/components/structures/RoomStatusBar.js
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     _getContent: function() {
         var TabCompleteBar = sdk.getComponent('rooms.TabCompleteBar');
         var TintableSvg = sdk.getComponent("elements.TintableSvg");
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
 
         // no conn bar trumps unread count since you can't get unread messages
         // without a connection! (technically may already have some but meh)
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         if (typingString) {
             return (
                 <div className="mx_RoomStatusBar_typingBar">
-                    {typingString}
+                    <EmojiText>{typingString}</EmojiText>
                 </div>
             );
         }
diff --git a/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
index f0a36c6608..47f0a76891 100644
--- a/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
+++ b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 
 var React = require('react');
 var AvatarLogic = require("../../../Avatar");
-import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
+import sdk from '../../../index';
 
 module.exports = React.createClass({
     displayName: 'BaseAvatar',
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     },
 
     render: function() {
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
         var imageUrl = this.state.imageUrls[this.state.urlsIndex];
 
         const {
@@ -142,15 +143,13 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         } = this.props;
 
         if (imageUrl === this.state.defaultImageUrl) {
-            var initialLetter = emojifyText(this._getInitialLetter(name));
+            const initialLetter = this._getInitialLetter(name);
             return (
                 <span className="mx_BaseAvatar" {...otherProps}>
-                    <span className="mx_BaseAvatar_initial" aria-hidden="true"
+                    <EmojiText className="mx_BaseAvatar_initial" aria-hidden="true"
                             style={{ fontSize: (width * 0.65) + "px",
                                     width: width + "px",
-                                    lineHeight: height + "px" }}
-                            dangerouslySetInnerHTML={initialLetter}>
-                    </span>
+                                    lineHeight: height + "px" }}>{initialLetter}</EmojiText>
                     <img className="mx_BaseAvatar_image" src={imageUrl}
                         alt="" title={title} onError={this.onError}
                         width={width} height={height} />
diff --git a/src/components/views/elements/EmojiText.js b/src/components/views/elements/EmojiText.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cb6cd2ef5e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/views/elements/EmojiText.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ Copyright 2016 Aviral Dasgupta
+
+ Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+ http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import React from 'react';
+import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
+
+export default function EmojiText(props) {
+    const {element, children, ...restProps} = props;
+    restProps.dangerouslySetInnerHTML = emojifyText(children);
+    return React.createElement(element, restProps);
+}
+
+EmojiText.propTypes = {
+    element: React.PropTypes.string,
+    children: React.PropTypes.string.isRequired,
+};
+
+EmojiText.defaultProps = {
+    element: 'span',
+};
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/SenderProfile.js b/src/components/views/messages/SenderProfile.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9e6fba2127
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/SenderProfile.js
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ Copyright 2015, 2016 OpenMarket Ltd
+
+ Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+ http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+'use strict';
+
+import React from 'react';
+import sdk from '../../../index';
+
+export default function SenderProfile(props) {
+    const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
+    const {mxEvent} = props;
+    const name = mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender();
+    const {msgtype} = mxEvent.getContent();
+
+    if (msgtype === 'm.emote') {
+        return <span />; // emote message must include the name so don't duplicate it
+    }
+
+    return (
+        <EmojiText className="mx_SenderProfile"
+              onClick={props.onClick}>{`${name || ''} ${props.aux || ''}`}</EmojiText>
+    );
+}
+
+SenderProfile.propTypes = {
+    mxEvent: React.PropTypes.object.isRequired, // event whose sender we're showing
+    aux: React.PropTypes.string, // stuff to go after the sender name, if anything
+    onClick: React.PropTypes.func,
+};
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
index 8c6cf455dc..19ca9657c2 100644
--- a/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/TextualBody.js
@@ -177,6 +177,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     },
 
     render: function() {
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
         var mxEvent = this.props.mxEvent;
         var content = mxEvent.getContent();
         var body = HtmlUtils.bodyToHtml(content, this.props.highlights, {});
@@ -200,10 +201,10 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
 
         switch (content.msgtype) {
             case "m.emote":
-                var name = mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender();
+                const name = mxEvent.sender ? mxEvent.sender.name : mxEvent.getSender();
                 return (
                     <span ref="content" className="mx_MEmoteBody mx_EventTile_content">
-                        * { name } { body }
+                        * <EmojiText>{name}</EmojiText> { body }
                         { widgets }
                     </span>
                 );
diff --git a/src/components/views/messages/TextualEvent.js b/src/components/views/messages/TextualEvent.js
index 251a44a30a..7cab98ea84 100644
--- a/src/components/views/messages/TextualEvent.js
+++ b/src/components/views/messages/TextualEvent.js
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ limitations under the License.
 var React = require('react');
 
 var TextForEvent = require('../../../TextForEvent');
-import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
+import sdk from '../../../index';
 
 module.exports = React.createClass({
     displayName: 'TextualEvent',
@@ -31,13 +31,11 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
     },
 
     render: function() {
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
         var text = TextForEvent.textForEvent(this.props.mxEvent);
         if (text == null || text.length === 0) return null;
-        let textHTML = emojifyText(TextForEvent.textForEvent(this.props.mxEvent));
-
         return (
-            <div className="mx_TextualEvent" dangerouslySetInnerHTML={textHTML}>
-            </div>
+            <EmojiText element="div" className="mx_TextualEvent">{text}</EmojiText>
         );
     },
 });
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/EntityTile.js b/src/components/views/rooms/EntityTile.js
index 8a99b4c565..d29137ffc2 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/EntityTile.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/EntityTile.js
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ var React = require('react');
 
 var MatrixClientPeg = require('../../../MatrixClientPeg');
 var sdk = require('../../../index');
-import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
 
 
 var PRESENCE_CLASS = {
@@ -103,8 +102,9 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         var mainClassName = "mx_EntityTile ";
         mainClassName += presenceClass + (this.props.className ? (" " + this.props.className) : "");
         var nameEl;
-        let nameHTML = emojifyText(this.props.name);
+        const {name} = this.props;
 
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
         if (this.state.hover && !this.props.suppressOnHover) {
             var activeAgo = this.props.presenceLastActiveAgo ?
                 (Date.now() - (this.props.presenceLastTs - this.props.presenceLastActiveAgo)) : -1;
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
             nameEl = (
                 <div className="mx_EntityTile_details">
                     <img className="mx_EntityTile_chevron" src="img/member_chevron.png" width="8" height="12"/>
-                    <div className="mx_EntityTile_name_hover" dangerouslySetInnerHTML={nameHTML}></div>
+                    <EmojiText element="div" className="mx_EntityTile_name_hover">{name}</EmojiText>
                     <PresenceLabel activeAgo={ activeAgo }
                         currentlyActive={this.props.presenceCurrentlyActive}
                         presenceState={this.props.presenceState} />
@@ -123,8 +123,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         }
         else {
             nameEl = (
-                <div className="mx_EntityTile_name" dangerouslySetInnerHTML={nameHTML}>
-                </div>
+                <EmojiText element="div" className="mx_EntityTile_name">{name}</EmojiText>
             );
         }
 
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/MemberInfo.js b/src/components/views/rooms/MemberInfo.js
index c087e7dc71..0cca402be6 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/MemberInfo.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/MemberInfo.js
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@ var Modal = require("../../../Modal");
 var sdk = require('../../../index');
 var UserSettingsStore = require('../../../UserSettingsStore');
 var createRoom = require('../../../createRoom');
-import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
 
 module.exports = React.createClass({
     displayName: 'MemberInfo',
@@ -637,10 +636,11 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                 </div>
         }
 
-        let memberNameHTML = emojifyText(this.props.member.name);
+        const memberName = this.props.member.name;
 
         var MemberAvatar = sdk.getComponent('avatars.MemberAvatar');
         var PowerSelector = sdk.getComponent('elements.PowerSelector');
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
         return (
             <div className="mx_MemberInfo">
                 <img className="mx_MemberInfo_cancel" src="img/cancel.svg" width="18" height="18" onClick={this.onCancel}/>
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                     <MemberAvatar onClick={this.onMemberAvatarClick} member={this.props.member} width={48} height={48} />
                 </div>
 
-                <h2 dangerouslySetInnerHTML={memberNameHTML}></h2>
+                <EmojiText element="h2">{memberNameHTML}</EmojiText>
 
                 <div className="mx_MemberInfo_profile">
                     <div className="mx_MemberInfo_profileField">
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomHeader.js b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomHeader.js
index 8c1b2aaff8..ff023ee043 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomHeader.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomHeader.js
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ var Modal = require("../../../Modal");
 var linkify = require('linkifyjs');
 var linkifyElement = require('linkifyjs/element');
 var linkifyMatrix = require('../../../linkify-matrix');
-import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
 
 linkifyMatrix(linkify);
 
@@ -145,6 +144,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
         var RoomAvatar = sdk.getComponent("avatars.RoomAvatar");
         var ChangeAvatar = sdk.getComponent("settings.ChangeAvatar");
         var TintableSvg = sdk.getComponent("elements.TintableSvg");
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
 
         var header;
         var name = null;
@@ -212,13 +212,12 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                 roomName = this.props.room.name;
             }
 
-            let roomNameHTML = emojifyText(roomName);
 
             name =
                 <div className="mx_RoomHeader_name" onClick={this.props.onSettingsClick}>
-                    <div className={ "mx_RoomHeader_nametext " + (settingsHint ? "mx_RoomHeader_settingsHint" : "") } title={ roomName } dangerouslySetInnerHTML={roomNameHTML}></div>
+                    <EmojiText element="div" className={ "mx_RoomHeader_nametext " + (settingsHint ? "mx_RoomHeader_settingsHint" : "") } title={ roomName }>{roomName}</EmojiText>
                     { searchStatus }
-                </div>
+                </div>;
         }
 
         if (can_set_room_topic) {
diff --git a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomTile.js b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomTile.js
index 111ead05b7..07b4f2618b 100644
--- a/src/components/views/rooms/RoomTile.js
+++ b/src/components/views/rooms/RoomTile.js
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ var dis = require("../../../dispatcher");
 var MatrixClientPeg = require('../../../MatrixClientPeg');
 var sdk = require('../../../index');
 var ContextualMenu = require('../../structures/ContextualMenu');
-import {emojifyText} from '../../../HtmlUtils';
 
 module.exports = React.createClass({
     displayName: 'RoomTile',
@@ -187,6 +186,7 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
 
         badge = <div className={ badgeClasses } onClick={this.onBadgeClicked} onMouseEnter={this.badgeOnMouseEnter} onMouseLeave={this.badgeOnMouseLeave}>{ badgeContent }</div>;
 
+        const EmojiText = sdk.getComponent('elements.EmojiText');
         var label;
         var tooltip;
         if (!this.props.collapsed) {
@@ -196,13 +196,12 @@ module.exports = React.createClass({
                 'mx_RoomTile_badgeShown': this.props.highlight || (notificationCount > 0 && !this.state.areNotifsMuted) || this.state.badgeHover || this.state.menu,
             });
 
-            let nameHTML = emojifyText(name);
             if (this.props.selected) {
-                let nameSelected = <span dangerouslySetInnerHTML={nameHTML}></span>;
+                let nameSelected = <EmojiText>{name}</EmojiText>;
 
                 label = <div title={ name } className={ nameClasses }>{ nameSelected }</div>;
             } else {
-                label = <div title={ name } className={ nameClasses } dangerouslySetInnerHTML={nameHTML}></div>;
+                label = <EmojiText element="div" title={ name } className={ nameClasses }>{name}</EmojiText>;
             }
         }
         else if (this.state.hover) {