diff --git a/wp-includes/formatting.php b/wp-includes/formatting.php
index 27e514f064..4ab8d11e24 100644
--- a/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -5113,7 +5113,11 @@ function wp_encode_emoji( $content ) {
 	$emoji = _wp_emoji_list( 'partials' );
 
 	foreach ( $emoji as $emojum ) {
-		$emoji_char = html_entity_decode( $emojum );
+		if ( version_compare( phpversion(), '5.4', '<' ) ) {
+			$emoji_char = html_entity_decode( $emojum, ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8' );
+		} else {
+			$emoji_char = html_entity_decode( $emojum );
+		}
 		if ( false !== strpos( $content, $emoji_char ) ) {
 			$content = preg_replace( "/$emoji_char/", $emojum, $content );
 		}
@@ -5151,7 +5155,11 @@ function wp_staticize_emoji( $text ) {
 	$possible_emoji = array();
 	foreach( $emoji as $emojum ) {
 		if ( false !== strpos( $text, $emojum ) ) {
-			$possible_emoji[ $emojum ] = html_entity_decode( $emojum );
+			if ( version_compare( phpversion(), '5.4', '<' ) ) {
+				$possible_emoji[ $emojum ] = html_entity_decode( $emojum, ENT_COMPAT, 'UTF-8' );
+			} else {
+				$possible_emoji[ $emojum ] = html_entity_decode( $emojum );
+			}
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index a69dac6e71..8170df25ab 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.9-alpha-41701';
+$wp_version = '4.9-alpha-41702';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.