diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/gfm_auto_complete.js.coffee b/app/assets/javascripts/gfm_auto_complete.js.coffee
index 1cc9d34dd80a9f1274e487605bec3eeafd688714..9ef194fbd2542d88966de3a55bb9ff4557816c19 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/gfm_auto_complete.js.coffee
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/gfm_auto_complete.js.coffee
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ GitLab.GfmAutoComplete =
     input = $('.js-gfm-input')
 
     # Emoji
-    input.atWho ':',
+    input.atWho '(?:^|\\s):',
       data: @Emoji.data
       tpl: @Emoji.template