diff --git a/lib/tasks/emoji.rake b/lib/tasks/emoji.rake
index 28cc27795a8..f852d77d811 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/emoji.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/emoji.rake
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ EMOJI_ALIASES ||= {
   "fleur_de_lis" => [ "fleur-de-lis" ],
 }
 
-EMOJI_GROUPS = [
+EMOJI_GROUPS ||= [
   {
     "name" => "people",
     "fullname" => "People",