diff --git a/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.dart b/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.dart
index eeedcde14d..41a7ac169f 100644
--- a/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.dart
+++ b/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.dart
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ class UserSettings {
   TwentyFourHourTimeMode twentyFourHourTime;
 
   bool displayEmojiReactionUsers;
+  @JsonKey(unknownEnumValue: Emojiset.unknown)
   Emojiset emojiset;
   bool presenceEnabled;
 
diff --git a/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.g.dart b/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.g.dart
index 1c5505a653..1150748a1f 100644
--- a/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.g.dart
+++ b/lib/api/model/initial_snapshot.g.dart
@@ -257,7 +257,11 @@ UserSettings _$UserSettingsFromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) => UserSettings(
     json['twenty_four_hour_time'] as bool?,
   ),
   displayEmojiReactionUsers: json['display_emoji_reaction_users'] as bool,
-  emojiset: $enumDecode(_$EmojisetEnumMap, json['emojiset']),
+  emojiset: $enumDecode(
+    _$EmojisetEnumMap,
+    json['emojiset'],
+    unknownValue: Emojiset.unknown,
+  ),
   presenceEnabled: json['presence_enabled'] as bool,
 );
 
@@ -283,6 +287,7 @@ const _$EmojisetEnumMap = {
   Emojiset.googleBlob: 'google-blob',
   Emojiset.twitter: 'twitter',
   Emojiset.text: 'text',
+  Emojiset.unknown: 'unknown',
 };
 
 UserTopicItem _$UserTopicItemFromJson(Map<String, dynamic> json) =>
diff --git a/lib/api/model/model.dart b/lib/api/model/model.dart
index da12823520..920798654f 100644
--- a/lib/api/model/model.dart
+++ b/lib/api/model/model.dart
@@ -390,7 +390,8 @@ enum Emojiset {
   google,
   googleBlob,
   twitter,
-  text;
+  text,
+  unknown;
 
   /// Get an [Emojiset] from a raw string. Throws if the string is unrecognized.
   ///
diff --git a/lib/api/model/model.g.dart b/lib/api/model/model.g.dart
index b835c493c5..4d079f88d2 100644
--- a/lib/api/model/model.g.dart
+++ b/lib/api/model/model.g.dart
@@ -533,6 +533,7 @@ const _$EmojisetEnumMap = {
   Emojiset.googleBlob: 'google-blob',
   Emojiset.twitter: 'twitter',
   Emojiset.text: 'text',
+  Emojiset.unknown: 'unknown',
 };
 
 const _$PresenceStatusEnumMap = {
diff --git a/test/api/model/initial_snapshot_test.dart b/test/api/model/initial_snapshot_test.dart
index 3228602fff..8eb4eb495c 100644
--- a/test/api/model/initial_snapshot_test.dart
+++ b/test/api/model/initial_snapshot_test.dart
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import 'package:test/scaffolding.dart';
 import 'package:zulip/api/model/initial_snapshot.dart';
 import 'package:zulip/api/model/model.dart';
 
+import '../../example_data.dart' as eg;
 import '../../stdlib_checks.dart';
 
 void main() {
@@ -62,4 +63,15 @@ void main() {
       'unread_message_ids': [11, 2, 3],
     })).throws<AssertionError>();
   });
+
+  test('UserSettings.emojiset handles various unknown values', () {
+    final unknownValues = ['apple', 'microsoft', 'facebook', ''];
+    for (final unknownValue in unknownValues) {
+      final json = eg.userSettings().toJson()..['emojiset'] = unknownValue;
+      final settings = UserSettings.fromJson(json);
+
+      // Verify unknown emojiset defaults to Emojiset.unknown
+      check(settings.emojiset).equals(Emojiset.unknown);
+    }
+  });
 }
diff --git a/test/example_data.dart b/test/example_data.dart
index a6e3e9655d..88b07f28cb 100644
--- a/test/example_data.dart
+++ b/test/example_data.dart
@@ -1304,6 +1304,22 @@ const _globalStore = globalStore;
 
 const String defaultRealmEmptyTopicDisplayName = 'test general chat';
 
+UserSettings userSettings({
+  TwentyFourHourTimeMode? twentyFourHourTime,
+  bool? displayEmojiReactionUsers,
+  Emojiset? emojiset,
+  bool? presenceEnabled,
+}) {
+  return UserSettings(
+    twentyFourHourTime: twentyFourHourTime ?? TwentyFourHourTimeMode.twelveHour,
+    displayEmojiReactionUsers: displayEmojiReactionUsers ?? true,
+    emojiset: emojiset ?? Emojiset.google,
+    presenceEnabled: presenceEnabled ?? true,
+  );
+}
+
+const _userSettings = userSettings;
+
 InitialSnapshot initialSnapshot({
   String? queueId,
   int? lastEventId,
@@ -1387,12 +1403,7 @@ InitialSnapshot initialSnapshot({
     unreadMsgs: unreadMsgs ?? _unreadMsgs(),
     streams: streams ?? [], // TODO add streams to default
     userStatuses: userStatuses ?? {},
-    userSettings: userSettings ?? UserSettings(
-      twentyFourHourTime: TwentyFourHourTimeMode.twelveHour,
-      displayEmojiReactionUsers: true,
-      emojiset: Emojiset.google,
-      presenceEnabled: true,
-    ),
+    userSettings: userSettings ?? _userSettings(),
     userTopics: userTopics ?? [],
     // no default; allow `null` to simulate servers without this
     realmCanDeleteAnyMessageGroup: realmCanDeleteAnyMessageGroup,