diff --git a/src/HtmlUtils.js b/src/HtmlUtils.js
index 3315e86e71..d9d8bac93b 100644
--- a/src/HtmlUtils.js
+++ b/src/HtmlUtils.js
@@ -516,7 +516,11 @@ export function bodyToHtml(content, highlights, opts={}) {
         contentBodyTrimmed = contentBodyTrimmed.replace(ZWJ_REGEX, '');
 
         const match = EMOJI_REGEX.exec(contentBodyTrimmed);
-        emojiBody = match && match[0] && match[0].length === contentBodyTrimmed.length;
+        emojiBody = match && match[0] && match[0].length === contentBodyTrimmed.length
+                    // Prevent user pills expanding for users with only emoji in
+                    // their username
+                    && (content.formatted_body == undefined
+		        || !content.formatted_body.includes("https://matrix.to/"));
     }
 
     const className = classNames({