diff --git a/src/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandler.php b/src/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandler.php
index 8425289b..237abb2d 100644
--- a/src/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandler.php
+++ b/src/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandler.php
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class SlackHandler extends SocketHandler
      * @param int    $level         The minimum logging level at which this handler will be triggered
      * @param bool   $bubble        Whether the messages that are handled can bubble up the stack or not
      */
-    public function __construct($token, $channel, $username = 'Monolog', $iconEmoji = 'alien', $useAttachment = true, $level = Logger::CRITICAL, $bubble = true)
+    public function __construct($token, $channel, $username = 'Monolog', $useAttachment = true, $level = Logger::CRITICAL, $bubble = true, $iconEmoji = null)
     {
         if (!extension_loaded('openssl')) {
             throw new MissingExtensionException('The OpenSSL PHP extension is required to use the SlackHandler');
@@ -99,7 +99,6 @@ class SlackHandler extends SocketHandler
             'token' => $this->token,
             'channel' => $this->channel,
             'username' => $this->username,
-            'icon_emoji' => ":{$this->iconEmoji}:",
             'text' => '',
             'attachments' => array()
         );
@@ -128,7 +127,11 @@ class SlackHandler extends SocketHandler
         } else {
             $dataArray['text'] = $record['message'];
         }
-
+        
+        if ($this->iconEmoji !== null) {
+            $dataArray['icon_emoji'] = ":{$this->iconEmoji}:";
+        }
+        
         return http_build_query($dataArray);
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandlerTest.php b/tests/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandlerTest.php
index 4efeca7f..2d31bc4c 100644
--- a/tests/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandlerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Monolog/Handler/SlackHandlerTest.php
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class SlackHandlerTest extends TestCase
         fseek($this->res, 0);
         $content = fread($this->res, 1024);
 
-        $this->assertRegexp('/token=myToken&channel=channel1&username=Monolog&icon_emoji=%3Aalien%3A&text=&attachments=.*$/', $content);
+        $this->assertRegexp('/token=myToken&channel=channel1&username=Monolog&text=&attachments=.*&icon_emoji=%3Aalien%3A$/', $content);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ class SlackHandlerTest extends TestCase
 
     private function createHandler($token = 'myToken', $channel = 'channel1', $username = 'Monolog', $iconEmoji = 'alien', $useAttachment = true)
     {
-        $constructorArgs = array($token, $channel, $username, $iconEmoji, $useAttachment, Logger::DEBUG, true);
+        $constructorArgs = array($token, $channel, $username, $useAttachment, Logger::DEBUG, true, $iconEmoji);
         $this->res = fopen('php://memory', 'a');
         $this->handler = $this->getMock(
             '\Monolog\Handler\SlackHandler',