diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/database.ts b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/database.ts
index 80bdfd12ff..40bf42337c 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/database.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/database.ts
@@ -269,6 +269,10 @@ export async function searchCustomEmojisByShortcodes(shortcodes: string[]) {
 
 export async function loadAllCustomEmoji() {
   const db = await loadDB();
+  const cacheValue = await db.get('etags', 'custom');
+  if (!cacheValue) {
+    return null;
+  }
   return db.getAll('custom');
 }
 
diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/picker.ts b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/picker.ts
index ad7baa2993..e06c296b8e 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/picker.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/features/emoji/picker.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,13 @@ export async function fetchCustomEmojiData() {
 
   const { loadAllCustomEmoji } = await import('./database');
   const emojisRaw = await loadAllCustomEmoji();
+
+  // If it returns null then custom emojis aren't even loaded yet.
+  if (emojisRaw === null) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  // If it's empty, then they are loaded but there aren't any.
   if (emojisRaw.length === 0) {
     customEmojis = [];
     return customEmojis;
diff --git a/app/javascript/mastodon/hooks/useCustomEmojis.ts b/app/javascript/mastodon/hooks/useCustomEmojis.ts
index df0eed6138..4bac1cef2e 100644
--- a/app/javascript/mastodon/hooks/useCustomEmojis.ts
+++ b/app/javascript/mastodon/hooks/useCustomEmojis.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export function useCustomEmojis() {
 async function loadEmojisIntoCache() {
   const { loadAllCustomEmoji } = await import('../features/emoji/database');
   const emojisRaw = await loadAllCustomEmoji();
-  if (emojisRaw.length === 0) {
+  if (emojisRaw === null) {
     return;
   }