diff --git a/lisp/international/emoji.el b/lisp/international/emoji.el
index cbf7c547f4c..e8cd869a571 100644
--- a/lisp/international/emoji.el
+++ b/lisp/international/emoji.el
@@ -164,12 +164,12 @@ when the command was invoked."
   (let ((buf (current-buffer)))
     (emoji--init)
     (switch-to-buffer (get-buffer-create "*Emoji*"))
+    (setq-local emoji--insert-buffer buf)
     ;; Don't regenerate the buffer if it already exists -- this will
     ;; leave point where it was the last time it was used.
     (when (zerop (buffer-size))
       (let ((inhibit-read-only t))
         (emoji-list-mode)
-        (setq-local emoji--insert-buffer buf)
         (emoji--list-generate nil (cons nil emoji--labels))
         (goto-char (point-min))))))