diff --git a/.storybook/main.ts b/.storybook/main.ts
index c249d1c06d..2f70c80dbf 100644
--- a/.storybook/main.ts
+++ b/.storybook/main.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const config: StorybookConfig = {
       'oops.gif',
       'oops.png',
     ].map((path) => ({ from: `../public/${path}`, to: `/${path}` })),
+    { from: '../app/javascript/images/logo.svg', to: '/custom-emoji/logo.svg' },
   ],
   viteFinal(config) {
     // For an unknown reason, Storybook does not use the root
diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/components/emoji/emoji.stories.tsx b/app/javascript/mastodon/components/emoji/emoji.stories.tsx
index fcc81db6c3..e7d1887aa9 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/components/emoji/emoji.stories.tsx
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/components/emoji/emoji.stories.tsx
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import type { ComponentProps } from 'react';
 
 import type { Meta, StoryObj } from '@storybook/react-vite';
 
+import { customEmojiFactory } from '@/testing/factories';
+
+import { CustomEmojiProvider } from './context';
 import { Emoji } from './index';
 
 type EmojiProps = ComponentProps<typeof Emoji> & {
@@ -34,7 +37,11 @@ const meta = {
     },
   },
   render(args) {
-    return <Emoji {...args} />;
+    return (
+      <CustomEmojiProvider emojis={[customEmojiFactory()]}>
+        <Emoji {...args} />
+      </CustomEmojiProvider>
+    );
   },
 } satisfies Meta<EmojiProps>;
 
@@ -49,9 +56,3 @@ export const CustomEmoji: Story = {
     code: ':custom:',
   },
 };
-
-export const LegacyEmoji: Story = {
-  args: {
-    code: ':copyright:',
-  },
-};
diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.test.ts b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.test.ts
index 782148b36e..dffebd1f8c 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.test.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.test.ts
@@ -83,12 +83,8 @@ describe('stringToEmojiState', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  test('returns custom emoji state for valid custom emoji', () => {
-    expect(stringToEmojiState(':smile:')).toEqual({
-      type: 'custom',
-      code: 'smile',
-      data: undefined,
-    });
+  test('returns null for custom emoji without data', () => {
+    expect(stringToEmojiState(':smile:')).toBeNull();
   });
 
   test('returns custom emoji state with data when provided', () => {
@@ -108,7 +104,6 @@ describe('stringToEmojiState', () => {
 
   test('returns null for invalid emoji strings', () => {
     expect(stringToEmojiState('notanemoji')).toBeNull();
-    expect(stringToEmojiState(':invalid-emoji:')).toBeNull();
   });
 });
 
@@ -142,21 +137,13 @@ describe('loadEmojiDataToState', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  test('loads custom emoji data into state', async () => {
-    const dbCall = vi
-      .spyOn(db, 'loadCustomEmojiByShortcode')
-      .mockResolvedValueOnce(customEmojiFactory());
+  test('returns null for custom emoji without data', async () => {
     const customState = {
       type: 'custom',
       code: 'smile',
     } as const satisfies EmojiStateCustom;
     const result = await loadEmojiDataToState(customState, 'en');
-    expect(dbCall).toHaveBeenCalledWith('smile');
-    expect(result).toEqual({
-      type: 'custom',
-      code: 'smile',
-      data: customEmojiFactory(),
-    });
+    expect(result).toBeNull();
   });
 
   test('loads unicode data using legacy shortcode', async () => {
@@ -194,16 +181,6 @@ describe('loadEmojiDataToState', () => {
     expect(result).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  test('returns null if custom emoji not found in database', async () => {
-    vi.spyOn(db, 'loadCustomEmojiByShortcode').mockResolvedValueOnce(undefined);
-    const customState = {
-      type: 'custom',
-      code: 'smile',
-    } as const satisfies EmojiStateCustom;
-    const result = await loadEmojiDataToState(customState, 'en');
-    expect(result).toBeNull();
-  });
-
   test('retries loading emoji data once if initial load fails', async () => {
     const dbCall = vi
       .spyOn(db, 'loadEmojiByHexcode')
diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.ts b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.ts
index e00525fe0a..38bc7fd7e5 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/render.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import {
   EMOJI_TYPE_CUSTOM,
 } from './constants';
 import {
-  loadCustomEmojiByShortcode,
   loadEmojiByHexcode,
   loadLegacyShortcodesByShortcode,
   LocaleNotLoadedError,
@@ -80,7 +79,7 @@ export function tokenizeText(text: string): TokenizedText {
 export function stringToEmojiState(
   code: string,
   customEmoji: ExtraCustomEmojiMap = {},
-): EmojiState | null {
+): EmojiStateUnicode | Required<EmojiStateCustom> | null {
   if (isUnicodeEmoji(code)) {
     return {
       type: EMOJI_TYPE_UNICODE,
@@ -90,11 +89,13 @@ export function stringToEmojiState(
 
   if (isCustomEmoji(code)) {
     const shortCode = code.slice(1, -1);
-    return {
-      type: EMOJI_TYPE_CUSTOM,
-      code: shortCode,
-      data: customEmoji[shortCode],
-    };
+    if (customEmoji[shortCode]) {
+      return {
+        type: EMOJI_TYPE_CUSTOM,
+        code: shortCode,
+        data: customEmoji[shortCode],
+      };
+    }
   }
 
   return null;
@@ -115,33 +116,29 @@ export async function loadEmojiDataToState(
     return state;
   }
 
+  // Don't try to load data for custom emoji.
+  if (state.type === EMOJI_TYPE_CUSTOM) {
+    return null;
+  }
+
   // First, try to load the data from IndexedDB.
   try {
     const legacyCode = await loadLegacyShortcodesByShortcode(state.code);
     // This is duplicative, but that's because TS can't distinguish the state type easily.
-    if (state.type === EMOJI_TYPE_UNICODE || legacyCode) {
-      const data = await loadEmojiByHexcode(
-        legacyCode?.hexcode ?? state.code,
-        locale,
-      );
-      if (data) {
-        return {
-          ...state,
-          type: EMOJI_TYPE_UNICODE,
-          data,
-          // TODO: Use CLDR shortcodes when the picker supports them.
-          shortcode: legacyCode?.shortcodes.at(0),
-        };
-      }
-    } else {
-      const data = await loadCustomEmojiByShortcode(state.code);
-      if (data) {
-        return {
-          ...state,
-          data,
-        };
-      }
+    const data = await loadEmojiByHexcode(
+      legacyCode?.hexcode ?? state.code,
+      locale,
+    );
+    if (data) {
+      return {
+        ...state,
+        type: EMOJI_TYPE_UNICODE,
+        data,
+        // TODO: Use CLDR shortcodes when the picker supports them.
+        shortcode: legacyCode?.shortcodes.at(0),
+      };
     }
+
     // If not found, assume it's not an emoji and return null.
     log(
       'Could not find emoji %s of type %s for locale %s',
diff --git a/app/javascript/testing/factories.ts b/app/javascript/testing/factories.ts
index 72d7abe000..28c0eca809 100644
--- a/app/javascript/testing/factories.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/testing/factories.ts
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ export function customEmojiFactory(
 ): CustomEmojiData {
   return {
     shortcode: 'custom',
-    static_url: 'emoji/custom/static',
-    url: 'emoji/custom',
+    static_url: '/custom-emoji/logo.svg',
+    url: '/custom-emoji/logo.svg',
     visible_in_picker: true,
     ...data,
   };