diff --git a/replacer.go b/replacer.go
index 9301f2a..62a8265 100644
--- a/replacer.go
+++ b/replacer.go
@@ -22,41 +22,54 @@ func Replace(input string) string {
 
 	start := -1
 	var lastEnd int
-	for index, char := range input {
-		if char == ':' {
-			if start == -1 {
-				start = index
-				continue
-			}
+	// Instead of for ranging over the string, we treat it as a byte array to
+	// save CPU cycles.
+	for index := 0; index < len(input); index++ {
+		char := input[index]
+		// Even though we might get codepoints out of the ascii range, one
+		// byte of a unicode codepoint can never be a colon. This is proven
+		// by the test TestThatPartOfARuneCannotBeColon and probably wouldn't
+		// need proving if I understood unicode and UTF-8 better.
+		if char != ':' {
+			continue
+		}
 
-			// Occurence of something like "Hello :: World", in which case we needn't do anything.
-			if index-start == 1 {
-				start = -1
-				continue
-			}
+		if start == -1 {
+			start = index
+			continue
+		}
 
-			emojiSequence := input[start+1 : index]
-			emojified, contains := EmojiMap[emojiSequence]
+		// Occurence of something like "Hello :: World", in which case we needn't do anything.
+		if index-start == 1 {
+			start = -1
+			continue
+		}
+
+		emojiSequence := input[start+1 : index]
+		emojified, contains := EmojiMap[emojiSequence]
+		if !contains {
+			// Since the previous check is case sensitive, we do the same in a case
+			// insensitive manner to make use of the best case performance.
+			emojiSequence = strings.ToLower(input[start+1 : index])
+			emojified, contains = EmojiMap[emojiSequence]
 			if !contains {
-				// Since the previous check is case sensitive, we do the same in a case
-				// insensitive manner to make use of the best case performance.
-				emojiSequence = strings.ToLower(input[start+1 : index])
-				emojified, contains = EmojiMap[emojiSequence]
-				if !contains {
-					start = -1
-					continue
-				}
+				start = -1
+				// Solves cases such as this ":sunglassesö:sunglasses:", where
+				// the sequence wouldn't be sucessfully resolved otherwise.
+				// Danke Marvin.
+				index--
+				continue
 			}
+		}
 
-			if len(buffer) == 0 {
-				// Potentially allocate a bit more than required, but not having to reallocate
-				buffer = make([]byte, 0, len(input)-len(emojiSequence)-2+len(emojified))
-			}
-			buffer = append(buffer, input[lastEnd:start]...)
-			buffer = append(buffer, emojified...)
-			start = -1
-			lastEnd = index + 1
+		if len(buffer) == 0 {
+			// Potentially allocate a bit more than required, but not having to reallocate
+			buffer = make([]byte, 0, len(input)-len(emojiSequence)-2+len(emojified))
 		}
+		buffer = append(buffer, input[lastEnd:start]...)
+		buffer = append(buffer, emojified...)
+		start = -1
+		lastEnd = index + 1
 	}
 
 	// Since we only ever append after we've found a matching
diff --git a/replacer_test.go b/replacer_test.go
index 71d89f5..6f2e05a 100644
--- a/replacer_test.go
+++ b/replacer_test.go
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 package discordemojimap
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"unicode"
 )
 
 func TestReplace(t *testing.T) {
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@ var inputVariations = [][2]string{
 	{"empty string", ""},
 	{"just a colon", ":"},
 	{"empty emoji sequence", "::"},
+	{"invalid emoji sequence with invalid characters", ":sunglassesö:sunglasses:"},
 	{"valid single letter emoji sequence", ":a:"},
 	{"no emoji sequence", "Hello"},
 	{"no emoji sequence, but single colon", "Hello :"},
@@ -47,6 +50,7 @@ var inputVariations = [][2]string{
 	{"invalid emoji sequence with word after", ":invalidinvalid: Hello"},
 	{"invalid emoji sequence with word before and after", "Hello :invalidinvalid: Hello"},
 	{"very long string with invalid emoji sequence in the middle", strings.Repeat("a", 1000) + ":invalidinvalid:" + strings.Repeat("b", 1000)},
+	{"very long string with valid emoji sequence in the middle", strings.Repeat("a", 1000) + ":sunglasses:" + strings.Repeat("b", 1000)},
 	{"standalone valid emoji sequence", ":sunglasses:"},
 	{"standalone valid uppercased emoji sequence", ":SUNGLASSES:"},
 	{"valid emoji sequence with word before", "hello :sunglasses:"},
@@ -78,6 +82,17 @@ func oldRegexReplace(input string) string {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestThatPartOfARuneCannotBeColon(t *testing.T) {
+	for i := '~'; i <= unicode.MaxRune; i++ {
+		data := string(i)
+		for j := 0; j < len(data); j++ {
+			if data[j] == ':' {
+				panic(fmt.Sprintf(": found in %s at index %d", string(data), j))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestNewReplaceAndOldReplaceBehaveTheSame(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, test := range inputVariations {
 		a := oldRegexReplace(test[1])