diff --git a/lib/url_helper.rb b/lib/url_helper.rb
index 1a8382ecda5..fe9e62d2863 100644
--- a/lib/url_helper.rb
+++ b/lib/url_helper.rb
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ class UrlHelper
   def self.is_local(url)
     url.present? && (
       Discourse.store.has_been_uploaded?(url) ||
-      !!(url =~ /^\/assets\//) ||
-      !!(url =~ /^\/plugins\//) ||
+      !!(url =~ /^\/(assets|plugins|images)\//) ||
       url.start_with?(Discourse.asset_host || Discourse.base_url_no_prefix)
     )
   end
diff --git a/spec/components/cooked_post_processor_spec.rb b/spec/components/cooked_post_processor_spec.rb
index b177886674c..49f1b992ce5 100644
--- a/spec/components/cooked_post_processor_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/cooked_post_processor_spec.rb
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ describe CookedPostProcessor do
 
     it "uses schemaless url for uploads" do
       cpp.optimize_urls
-      expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="//test.localhost/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="//test.localhost/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="//test.localhost/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)</p>'
+      expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="//test.localhost/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="//test.localhost/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="//test.localhost/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)<br><img src="//test.localhost/images/emoji/emoji_one/smile.png?v=2" title=":smile:" class="emoji" alt=":smile:"></p>'
     end
 
     context "when CDN is enabled" do
@@ -392,20 +392,20 @@ describe CookedPostProcessor do
       it "does use schemaless CDN url for http uploads" do
         Rails.configuration.action_controller.stubs(:asset_host).returns("http://my.cdn.com")
         cpp.optimize_urls
-        expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)</p>'
+        expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)<br><img src="//my.cdn.com/images/emoji/emoji_one/smile.png?v=2" title=":smile:" class="emoji" alt=":smile:"></p>'
       end
 
       it "does not use schemaless CDN url for https uploads" do
         Rails.configuration.action_controller.stubs(:asset_host).returns("https://my.cdn.com")
         cpp.optimize_urls
-        expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="https://my.cdn.com/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="https://my.cdn.com/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="https://my.cdn.com/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)</p>'
+        expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="https://my.cdn.com/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="https://my.cdn.com/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="https://my.cdn.com/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)<br><img src="https://my.cdn.com/images/emoji/emoji_one/smile.png?v=2" title=":smile:" class="emoji" alt=":smile:"></p>'
       end
 
       it "does not use CDN when login is required" do
         SiteSetting.login_required = true
         Rails.configuration.action_controller.stubs(:asset_host).returns("http://my.cdn.com")
         cpp.optimize_urls
-        expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="//test.localhost/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)</p>'
+        expect(cpp.html).to match_html '<p><a href="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/2/2345678901234567.jpg">Link</a><br><img src="//my.cdn.com/uploads/default/1/1234567890123456.jpg"><br><a href="http://www.google.com" rel="nofollow">Google</a><br><img src="http://foo.bar/image.png"><br><a class="attachment" href="//test.localhost/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)<br><img src="//my.cdn.com/images/emoji/emoji_one/smile.png?v=2" title=":smile:" class="emoji" alt=":smile:"></p>'
       end
 
     end
diff --git a/spec/fabricators/post_fabricator.rb b/spec/fabricators/post_fabricator.rb
index 6b3ff433968..520271a6cfd 100644
--- a/spec/fabricators/post_fabricator.rb
+++ b/spec/fabricators/post_fabricator.rb
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ Fabricator(:post_with_uploads_and_links, from: :post) do
 <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>
 <img src="http://foo.bar/image.png">
 <a class="attachment" href="/uploads/default/original/1X/af2c2618032c679333bebf745e75f9088748d737.txt">text.txt</a> (20 Bytes)
+:smile:
 '
 end