diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 33645135abda30a991f7645338fa84bd1618d574..9da2e0144da52421bb2e2d044899d2c881ce3ad4 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -7652,6 +7652,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand 0.9.2",
  "raw-window-handle",
  "refineable",
+ "regex",
  "reqwest_client",
  "resvg",
  "scheduler",
@@ -7667,6 +7668,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "sum_tree",
  "taffy",
  "thiserror 2.0.17",
+ "ttf-parser 0.25.1",
  "unicode-segmentation",
  "url",
  "usvg",
@@ -14609,12 +14611,15 @@ version = "0.45.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a8928798c0a55e03c9ca6c4c6846f76377427d2c1e1f7e6de3c06ae57942df43"
 dependencies = [
+ "gif",
+ "image-webp",
  "log",
  "pico-args",
  "rgb",
  "svgtypes",
  "tiny-skia",
  "usvg",
+ "zune-jpeg",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
diff --git a/crates/gpui/Cargo.toml b/crates/gpui/Cargo.toml
index 9eb2de936c2e1db1d80cc3627db5594152e7223e..cb4a48f63103118aafe78398d4842634c976ef9d 100644
--- a/crates/gpui/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/gpui/Cargo.toml
@@ -70,14 +70,17 @@ chrono.workspace = true
 profiling.workspace = true
 rand.workspace = true
 raw-window-handle = "0.6"
+regex.workspace = true
 refineable.workspace = true
 scheduler.workspace = true
 resvg = { version = "0.45.0", default-features = false, features = [
     "text",
     "system-fonts",
     "memmap-fonts",
+    "raster-images"
 ] }
 usvg = { version = "0.45.0", default-features = false }
+ttf-parser = "0.25"
 util_macros.workspace = true
 schemars.workspace = true
 seahash = "4.1"
@@ -145,12 +148,12 @@ backtrace.workspace = true
 collections = { workspace = true, features = ["test-support"] }
 env_logger.workspace = true
 gpui_platform = { workspace = true, features = ["font-kit"] }
+gpui_util = { workspace = true }
 lyon = { version = "1.0", features = ["extra"] }
+proptest = { workspace = true }
 rand.workspace = true
 scheduler = { workspace = true, features = ["test-support"] }
-unicode-segmentation.workspace = true
-gpui_util = { workspace = true }
-proptest = { workspace = true }
+unicode-segmentation = { workspace = true }
 
 [target.'cfg(not(target_family = "wasm"))'.dev-dependencies]
 http_client = { workspace = true, features = ["test-support"] }
diff --git a/crates/gpui/src/svg_renderer.rs b/crates/gpui/src/svg_renderer.rs
index f82530f8d10fab074dd5e116114cf028a8a19cfe..217555e3b0e295d06e375e19d013e0b520118e0b 100644
--- a/crates/gpui/src/svg_renderer.rs
+++ b/crates/gpui/src/svg_renderer.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,73 @@ use std::{
     sync::{Arc, LazyLock},
 };
 
+#[cfg(target_os = "macos")]
+const EMOJI_FONT_FAMILIES: &[&str] = &["Apple Color Emoji", ".AppleColorEmojiUI"];
+
+#[cfg(target_os = "windows")]
+const EMOJI_FONT_FAMILIES: &[&str] = &["Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"];
+
+#[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "freebsd"))]
+const EMOJI_FONT_FAMILIES: &[&str] = &[
+    "Noto Color Emoji",
+    "Emoji One",
+    "Twitter Color Emoji",
+    "JoyPixels",
+];
+
+#[cfg(not(any(
+    target_os = "macos",
+    target_os = "windows",
+    target_os = "linux",
+    target_os = "freebsd",
+)))]
+const EMOJI_FONT_FAMILIES: &[&str] = &[];
+
+fn is_emoji_presentation(c: char) -> bool {
+    static EMOJI_PRESENTATION_REGEX: LazyLock<regex::Regex> =
+        LazyLock::new(|| regex::Regex::new("\\p{Emoji_Presentation}").unwrap());
+    let mut buf = [0u8; 4];
+    EMOJI_PRESENTATION_REGEX.is_match(c.encode_utf8(&mut buf))
+}
+
+fn font_has_char(db: &usvg::fontdb::Database, id: usvg::fontdb::ID, ch: char) -> bool {
+    db.with_face_data(id, |font_data, face_index| {
+        ttf_parser::Face::parse(font_data, face_index)
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(|face| face.glyph_index(ch))
+            .is_some()
+    })
+    .unwrap_or(false)
+}
+
+fn select_emoji_font(
+    ch: char,
+    fonts: &[usvg::fontdb::ID],
+    db: &usvg::fontdb::Database,
+    families: &[&str],
+) -> Option<usvg::fontdb::ID> {
+    for family_name in families {
+        let query = usvg::fontdb::Query {
+            families: &[usvg::fontdb::Family::Name(family_name)],
+            weight: usvg::fontdb::Weight(400),
+            stretch: usvg::fontdb::Stretch::Normal,
+            style: usvg::fontdb::Style::Normal,
+        };
+
+        let Some(id) = db.query(&query) else {
+            continue;
+        };
+
+        if fonts.contains(&id) || !font_has_char(db, id, ch) {
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        return Some(id);
+    }
+
+    None
+}
+
 /// When rendering SVGs, we render them at twice the size to get a higher-quality result.
 pub const SMOOTH_SVG_SCALE_FACTOR: f32 = 2.;
 
@@ -52,10 +119,23 @@ impl SvgRenderer {
                 default_font_resolver(font, db)
             },
         );
+        let default_fallback_selection = usvg::FontResolver::default_fallback_selector();
+        let fallback_selection = Box::new(
+            move |ch: char, fonts: &[usvg::fontdb::ID], db: &mut Arc<usvg::fontdb::Database>| {
+                if is_emoji_presentation(ch) {
+                    if let Some(id) = select_emoji_font(ch, fonts, db.as_ref(), EMOJI_FONT_FAMILIES)
+                    {
+                        return Some(id);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                default_fallback_selection(ch, fonts, db)
+            },
+        );
         let options = usvg::Options {
             font_resolver: usvg::FontResolver {
                 select_font: font_resolver,
-                select_fallback: usvg::FontResolver::default_fallback_selector(),
+                select_fallback: fallback_selection,
             },
             ..Default::default()
         };
@@ -148,3 +228,73 @@ impl SvgRenderer {
         Ok(pixmap)
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    const IBM_PLEX_REGULAR: &[u8] =
+        include_bytes!("../../../assets/fonts/ibm-plex-sans/IBMPlexSans-Regular.ttf");
+    const LILEX_REGULAR: &[u8] = include_bytes!("../../../assets/fonts/lilex/Lilex-Regular.ttf");
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_is_emoji_presentation() {
+        let cases = [
+            ("a", false),
+            ("Z", false),
+            ("1", false),
+            ("#", false),
+            ("*", false),
+            ("漢", false),
+            ("中", false),
+            ("カ", false),
+            ("©", false),
+            ("♥", false),
+            ("😀", true),
+            ("✅", true),
+            ("🇺🇸", true),
+            // SVG fallback is not cluster-aware yet
+            ("©️", false),
+            ("♥️", false),
+            ("1️⃣", false),
+        ];
+        for (s, expected) in cases {
+            assert_eq!(
+                is_emoji_presentation(s.chars().next().unwrap()),
+                expected,
+                "for char {:?}",
+                s
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_select_emoji_font_skips_family_without_glyph() {
+        let mut db = usvg::fontdb::Database::new();
+
+        db.load_font_data(IBM_PLEX_REGULAR.to_vec());
+        db.load_font_data(LILEX_REGULAR.to_vec());
+
+        let ibm_plex_sans = db
+            .query(&usvg::fontdb::Query {
+                families: &[usvg::fontdb::Family::Name("IBM Plex Sans")],
+                weight: usvg::fontdb::Weight(400),
+                stretch: usvg::fontdb::Stretch::Normal,
+                style: usvg::fontdb::Style::Normal,
+            })
+            .unwrap();
+        let lilex = db
+            .query(&usvg::fontdb::Query {
+                families: &[usvg::fontdb::Family::Name("Lilex")],
+                weight: usvg::fontdb::Weight(400),
+                stretch: usvg::fontdb::Stretch::Normal,
+                style: usvg::fontdb::Style::Normal,
+            })
+            .unwrap();
+        let selected = select_emoji_font('│', &[], &db, &["IBM Plex Sans", "Lilex"]).unwrap();
+
+        assert_eq!(selected, lilex);
+        assert!(!font_has_char(&db, ibm_plex_sans, '│'));
+        assert!(font_has_char(&db, selected, '│'));
+    }
+}