diff --git a/src/components/picker.js b/src/components/picker.js
index 2a82e03..6ae18e4 100644
--- a/src/components/picker.js
+++ b/src/components/picker.js
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ export default class Picker extends React.Component {
     }
 
     for (let category of data.categories) {
-      let isIncluded = props.include == undefined ? true : props.include.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1
-      let isExcluded = props.exclude == undefined ? false : props.exclude.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1
+      let isIncluded = props.include && props.include.length ? props.include.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1 : true
+      let isExcluded = props.exclude && props.exclude.length ? props.exclude.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1 : false
       if (!isIncluded || isExcluded) { continue }
 
       if (props.emojisToShowFilter) {
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ export default class Picker extends React.Component {
       }
     }
 
-    let includeRecent = props.include == undefined ? true : props.include.indexOf('recent') > -1
-    let excludeRecent = props.exclude == undefined ? false : props.exclude.indexOf('recent') > -1
+    let includeRecent = props.include && props.include.length ? props.include.indexOf('recent') > -1 : true
+    let excludeRecent = props.exclude && props.exclude.length ? props.exclude.indexOf('recent') > -1 : false
     if (includeRecent && !excludeRecent) {
       this.categories.unshift(RECENT_CATEGORY)
     }
diff --git a/src/utils/emoji-index.js b/src/utils/emoji-index.js
index 7f48063..d50c288 100644
--- a/src/utils/emoji-index.js
+++ b/src/utils/emoji-index.js
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ function search(value, { emojisToShowFilter, maxResults, include, exclude } = {}
       pool = {}
 
       for (let category of data.categories) {
-        let isIncluded = include == undefined ? true : include.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1
-        let isExcluded = exclude == undefined ? false : exclude.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1
+        let isIncluded = include && include.length ? include.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1 : true
+        let isExcluded = exclude && exclude.length ? exclude.indexOf(category.name.toLowerCase()) > -1 : false
         if (!isIncluded || isExcluded) { continue }
 
         for (let emojiId of category.emojis) {