diff --git a/lib/gitlab/markdown/emoji_filter.rb b/lib/gitlab/markdown/emoji_filter.rb
index e239f766844..6794ab9c897 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/markdown/emoji_filter.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/markdown/emoji_filter.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ module Gitlab
       IGNORED_ANCESTOR_TAGS = %w(pre code tt).to_set
 
       def call
-        doc.search('text()').each do |node|
+        search_text_nodes(doc).each do |node|
           content = node.to_html
           next unless content.include?(':')
           next if has_ancestor?(node, IGNORED_ANCESTOR_TAGS)
diff --git a/lib/gitlab/markdown/reference_filter.rb b/lib/gitlab/markdown/reference_filter.rb
index 26663c8d990..ef4aa408a7e 100644
--- a/lib/gitlab/markdown/reference_filter.rb
+++ b/lib/gitlab/markdown/reference_filter.rb
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ module Gitlab
       def replace_text_nodes_matching(pattern)
         return doc if project.nil?
 
-        doc.search('text()').each do |node|
+        search_text_nodes(doc).each do |node|
           content = node.to_html
 
           next unless content.match(pattern)