diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/styles.css b/apps/desktop/src/styles.css
index be5e8ab10d7..fc7d3a03bf9 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/styles.css
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/styles.css
@@ -266,8 +266,10 @@
     --dt-user-bubble: var(--ui-chat-bubble-background);
     --dt-user-bubble-border: var(--ui-stroke-tertiary);
 
-    --dt-font-sans: 'Segoe WPC', 'Segoe UI', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Text', system-ui, sans-serif;
-    --dt-font-mono: 'Cascadia Code', 'JetBrains Mono', 'SF Mono', ui-monospace, Menlo, Consolas, monospace;
+    --dt-font-sans: 'Segoe WPC', 'Segoe UI', -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Text', system-ui, sans-serif,
+      'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji', emoji;
+    --dt-font-mono: 'Cascadia Code', 'JetBrains Mono', 'SF Mono', ui-monospace, Menlo, Consolas, monospace,
+      'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji', emoji;
     --dt-base-size: 1rem;
     --dt-line-height: 1.5;
     --dt-letter-spacing: 0;
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/themes/presets.ts b/apps/desktop/src/themes/presets.ts
index 170b5456e57..b1f85a9a7f3 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/themes/presets.ts
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/themes/presets.ts
@@ -5,10 +5,19 @@
 
 import type { DesktopTheme, DesktopThemeTypography } from './types'
 
-const SYSTEM_SANS =
-  '"Segoe WPC", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Display", system-ui, sans-serif'
+// Color-emoji fonts to append to every stack as a last resort. None of the UI
+// text/mono fonts carry emoji glyphs, so without this emoji render as tofu
+// boxes on platforms whose default text font lacks them (e.g. Linux/#40364).
+// Covers macOS, Windows, Linux, plus the `emoji` generic for anything else.
+export const EMOJI_FALLBACK =
+  '"Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji", emoji'
 
-const SYSTEM_MONO = '"Cascadia Code", "JetBrains Mono", "SF Mono", ui-monospace, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, monospace'
+const SYSTEM_SANS =
+  '"Segoe WPC", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "SF Pro Text", "SF Pro Display", system-ui, sans-serif, ' +
+  EMOJI_FALLBACK
+
+const SYSTEM_MONO =
+  '"Cascadia Code", "JetBrains Mono", "SF Mono", ui-monospace, Menlo, Monaco, Consolas, monospace, ' + EMOJI_FALLBACK
 
 export const DEFAULT_TYPOGRAPHY: DesktopThemeTypography = { fontSans: SYSTEM_SANS, fontMono: SYSTEM_MONO }
 
@@ -228,8 +237,8 @@ export const cyberpunkTheme: DesktopTheme = {
     userBubbleBorder: '#004800'
   },
   typography: {
-    fontMono: `"Courier New", Courier, monospace`,
-    fontSans: `"Courier New", Courier, monospace`
+    fontMono: `"Courier New", Courier, monospace, ${EMOJI_FALLBACK}`,
+    fontSans: `"Courier New", Courier, monospace, ${EMOJI_FALLBACK}`
   }
 }