diff --git a/spec/workspace-element-spec.coffee b/spec/workspace-element-spec.coffee
index cf773b4ef..efb1d1b26 100644
--- a/spec/workspace-element-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/workspace-element-spec.coffee
@@ -47,9 +47,14 @@ describe "WorkspaceElement", ->
 
     it "updates the font-family based on the 'editor.fontFamily' config value", ->
       initialCharWidth = editor.getDefaultCharWidth()
-      expect(getComputedStyle(editorElement).fontFamily).toBe atom.config.get('editor.fontFamily')
+      fontFamily = atom.config.get('editor.fontFamily')
+      fontFamily += ", 'Apple Color Emoji'" if process.platform is 'darwin'
+      expect(getComputedStyle(editorElement).fontFamily).toBe fontFamily
+
       atom.config.set('editor.fontFamily', 'sans-serif')
-      expect(getComputedStyle(editorElement).fontFamily).toBe atom.config.get('editor.fontFamily')
+      fontFamily = atom.config.get('editor.fontFamily')
+      fontFamily += ", 'Apple Color Emoji'" if process.platform is 'darwin'
+      expect(getComputedStyle(editorElement).fontFamily).toBe fontFamily
       expect(editor.getDefaultCharWidth()).not.toBe initialCharWidth
 
     it "updates the line-height based on the 'editor.lineHeight' config value", ->
diff --git a/src/workspace-element.coffee b/src/workspace-element.coffee
index 8f6dca48a..02ff2e5b4 100644
--- a/src/workspace-element.coffee
+++ b/src/workspace-element.coffee
@@ -44,10 +44,15 @@ class WorkspaceElement extends HTMLElement
     @subscriptions.add @config.onDidChange 'editor.lineHeight', @updateGlobalTextEditorStyleSheet.bind(this)
 
   updateGlobalTextEditorStyleSheet: ->
+    fontFamily = @config.get('editor.fontFamily')
+    # TODO: There is a bug in how some emojis (e.g. ❤️) are rendered on OSX.
+    # This workaround should be removed once we update to Chromium 51, where the
+    # problem was fixed.
+    fontFamily += ', "Apple Color Emoji"' if process.platform is 'darwin'
     styleSheetSource = """
       atom-text-editor {
         font-size: #{@config.get('editor.fontSize')}px;
-        font-family: #{@config.get('editor.fontFamily')};
+        font-family: #{fontFamily};
         line-height: #{@config.get('editor.lineHeight')};
       }
     """