diff --git a/.changeset/old-numbers-ring.md b/.changeset/old-numbers-ring.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..82a7cef109
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/old-numbers-ring.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@udecode/plate-emoji": patch
+---
+
+fix: add assertion as JSON on emoji mart data so it can be read in ESM
diff --git a/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiFloatingLibrary.ts b/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiFloatingLibrary.ts
index d9a6bf5427..bc86c2dfc4 100644
--- a/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiFloatingLibrary.ts
+++ b/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiFloatingLibrary.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import emojiMartData from '@emoji-mart/data';
+import emojiMartData from '@emoji-mart/data' assert { type: 'json' };
 
 import { defaultCategories } from '../../constants';
 import {
diff --git a/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiInlineLibrary.ts b/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiInlineLibrary.ts
index cee9aea0ac..d4ef1a9ca0 100644
--- a/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiInlineLibrary.ts
+++ b/packages/emoji/src/utils/EmojiLibrary/EmojiInlineLibrary.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import emojiMartData from '@emoji-mart/data';
+import emojiMartData from '@emoji-mart/data' assert { type: 'json' };
 
 import {
   Emoji,