diff --git a/src/components/picker.js b/src/components/picker.js
index eb2f37b..4a1d6fe 100644
--- a/src/components/picker.js
+++ b/src/components/picker.js
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ export default class Picker extends React.Component {
   }
 
   render() {
-    var { perLine, emojiSize, set, sheetSize, style, title, emoji, color, native, backgroundImageFn, emojisToShowFilter, autoFocus } = this.props,
+    var { perLine, emojiSize, set, sheetSize, style, title, emoji, color, native, backgroundImageFn, emojisToShowFilter, include, exclude, autoFocus } = this.props,
         { skin } = this.state,
         width = (perLine * (emojiSize + 12)) + 12 + 2
 
@@ -313,6 +313,8 @@ export default class Picker extends React.Component {
           onSearch={this.handleSearch.bind(this)}
           i18n={this.i18n}
           emojisToShowFilter={emojisToShowFilter}
+          include={include}
+          exclude={exclude}
           autoFocus={autoFocus}
         />
 
diff --git a/src/components/search.js b/src/components/search.js
index 4da6f20..c625442 100644
--- a/src/components/search.js
+++ b/src/components/search.js
@@ -6,7 +6,12 @@ export default class Search extends React.Component {
     var { input } = this.refs,
         value = input.value
 
-    this.props.onSearch(emojiIndex.search(value, this.props.emojisToShowFilter, this.props.maxResults))
+    this.props.onSearch(emojiIndex.search(value, {
+      emojisToShowFilter: this.props.emojisToShowFilter,
+      maxResults: this.props.maxResults,
+      include: this.props.include,
+      exclude: this.props.exclude,
+    }))
   }
 
   clear() {
diff --git a/src/utils/emoji-index.js b/src/utils/emoji-index.js
index d4a5164..7f48063 100644
--- a/src/utils/emoji-index.js
+++ b/src/utils/emoji-index.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import data from '../../data'
+const extend = require('util')._extend
 
+import data from '../../data'
 import { getSanitizedData, intersect } from '.'
 
 var index = {}
@@ -20,8 +21,11 @@ for (let emoji in data.emojis) {
   emojisList[id] = getSanitizedData(id)
 }
 
-function search(value, emojisToShowFilter = () => true, maxResults = 75) {
-  var results = null
+function search(value, { emojisToShowFilter, maxResults, include, exclude } = {}) {
+  maxResults || (maxResults = 75)
+
+  var results = null,
+      pool = data.emojis
 
   if (value.length) {
     var values = value.toLowerCase().split(/[\s|,|\-|_]+/),
@@ -31,8 +35,22 @@ function search(value, emojisToShowFilter = () => true, maxResults = 75) {
       values = [values[0], values[1]]
     }
 
+    if ((include && include.length) || (exclude && exclude.length)) {
+      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
+        if (!isIncluded || isExcluded) { continue }
+
+        for (let emojiId of category.emojis) {
+          pool[emojiId] = data.emojis[emojiId]
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
     allResults = values.map((value) => {
-      var aPool = data.emojis,
+      var aPool = pool,
           aIndex = index,
           length = 0
 
diff --git a/src/utils/emoji-indexSpec.js b/src/utils/emoji-indexSpec.js
index 41f5eda..011c1f0 100644
--- a/src/utils/emoji-indexSpec.js
+++ b/src/utils/emoji-indexSpec.js
@@ -16,8 +16,13 @@ describe('#emojiIndex', () => {
 
     it('should filter only emojis we care about, exclude pineapple', () => {
       let emojisToShowFilter = (unified) => unified !== '1F34D';
-      expect(emojiIndex.search('apple', emojisToShowFilter).map((obj) => obj.id))
+      expect(emojiIndex.search('apple', { emojisToShowFilter }).map((obj) => obj.id))
         .not.toContain('pineapple');
     });
+
+    it('can include/exclude categories', () => {
+      expect(emojiIndex.search('flag', { include: ['people'] }))
+        .toEqual([])
+    })
   });
 });