diff --git a/lib/controllers/emoji.dart b/lib/controllers/emoji.dart
index caea3de..0c89896 100644
--- a/lib/controllers/emoji.dart
+++ b/lib/controllers/emoji.dart
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import "dart:convert";
 import "package:emoji_text_field/models/emoji_category.dart";
 import "package:fast_immutable_collections/fast_immutable_collections.dart";
+import "package:flutter/foundation.dart";
 import "package:flutter/material.dart";
 import "package:flutter_riverpod/flutter_riverpod.dart";
 import "package:http/http.dart";
@@ -19,9 +20,12 @@ class EmojiController extends AsyncNotifier<EmojiTuple> {
       throw Exception("Failed to load emoji data");
     }
 
-    final data = json.decode(response.body);
+    return compute(_parseEmojiJson, response.body);
+  }
 
-    final entries = (data as List)
+  static EmojiTuple _parseEmojiJson(String body) {
+    final data = json.decode(body) as List;
+    final entries = data
         .cast<Map<String, dynamic>>()
         .map(Emoji.fromJson)
         .toIList();
diff --git a/lib/widgets/emoji_picker_button.dart b/lib/widgets/emoji_picker_button.dart
index 2ac906a..3516590 100644
--- a/lib/widgets/emoji_picker_button.dart
+++ b/lib/widgets/emoji_picker_button.dart
@@ -20,32 +20,46 @@ class EmojiPickerButton extends HookConsumerWidget {
   Widget build(_, WidgetRef ref) => IconButton(
     onPressed: () async {
       onPressed?.call();
-      final controller = this.controller ?? .new();
+
+      final tempController = controller ?? TextEditingController();
+      final shouldDispose = controller == null;
+      var hasPopped = false;
+
+      void handler() {
+        if (tempController.text.isEmpty || hasPopped) return;
+        hasPopped = true;
+
+        onSelection?.call(tempController.text);
+
+        WidgetsBinding.instance.addPostFrameCallback((_) {
+          if (context.mounted) Navigator.of(context).maybePop();
+        });
+      }
 
       final emojis = await ref.watch(EmojiController.provider.future);
-      if (context.mounted) {
-        showModalBottomSheet(
-          context: context,
-          builder: (context) => EmojiKeyboardView(
-            config: .new(
-              showRecentTab: false,
-              customCategories: emojis.$1.unlock,
-              customKeywords: emojis.$2.unlock,
-              backgroundColor: Theme.of(context).colorScheme.surfaceContainer,
-              height: 600,
-            ),
-            textController: controller
-              ..addListener(() {
-                // Without this, there will sometimes be a debugLocked is not true error sometimes
-                // It might be preferable to use a microtask instead of a `Future.delayed`.
-                Future.delayed(.zero, () {
-                  if (context.mounted) Navigator.of(context).pop();
-                });
-                onSelection?.call(controller.text);
-              }),
-          ),
-        );
+      if (!context.mounted) {
+        if (shouldDispose) tempController.dispose();
+        return;
       }
+
+      await showModalBottomSheet(
+        context: context,
+        builder: (sheetContext) => EmojiKeyboardView(
+          config: .new(
+            showRecentTab: false,
+            customCategories: emojis.$1.unlock,
+            customKeywords: emojis.$2.unlock,
+            backgroundColor: Theme.of(
+              sheetContext,
+            ).colorScheme.surfaceContainer,
+            height: 600,
+          ),
+          textController: tempController..addListener(handler),
+        ),
+      );
+
+      tempController.removeListener(handler);
+      if (shouldDispose) tempController.dispose();
     },
     icon: Icon(Icons.emoji_emotions),
   );