diff --git a/lib/slug.rb b/lib/slug.rb
index dc95095b7b1..669006c2e8e 100644
--- a/lib/slug.rb
+++ b/lib/slug.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ module Slug
   MAX_LENGTH = 255
 
   def self.for(string, default = 'topic', max_length = MAX_LENGTH)
+    string = string.gsub(/:([\w\-+]+(?::t\d)?):/, '') if string.present? # strip emoji strings
+
     slug =
       case (SiteSetting.slug_generation_method || :ascii).to_sym
       when :ascii then self.ascii_generator(string)
diff --git a/spec/components/slug_spec.rb b/spec/components/slug_spec.rb
index ad436f6b524..991ff235e14 100644
--- a/spec/components/slug_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/slug_spec.rb
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ describe Slug do
       expect(Slug.for("o_o_o")).to eq("o-o-o")
     end
 
+    it 'strips emoji string' do
+      expect(Slug.for(":smile: To Infinity and beyond! 🚀 :woman:t5:")).to eq("to-infinity-and-beyond")
+    end
+
     context 'ascii generator' do
       before { SiteSetting.slug_generation_method = 'ascii' }