diff --git a/src/components/search.js b/src/components/search.js
index 67d8c5627..54e270923 100644
--- a/src/components/search.js
+++ b/src/components/search.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import PropTypes from 'prop-types'
 
 import { search as icons } from '../svgs'
 import NimbleEmojiIndex from '../utils/emoji-index/nimble-emoji-index'
+import { throttleIdleTask } from '../utils/index'
 
 let id = 0
 
@@ -18,9 +19,11 @@ export default class Search extends React.PureComponent {
     this.data = props.data
     this.emojiIndex = new NimbleEmojiIndex(this.data)
     this.setRef = this.setRef.bind(this)
-    this.handleChange = this.handleChange.bind(this)
     this.clear = this.clear.bind(this)
     this.handleKeyUp = this.handleKeyUp.bind(this)
+
+    // throttle keyboard input so that typing isn't delayed
+    this.handleChange = throttleIdleTask(this.handleChange.bind(this))
   }
 
   search(value) {
diff --git a/src/utils/index.js b/src/utils/index.js
index 241b18bab..827618420 100644
--- a/src/utils/index.js
+++ b/src/utils/index.js
@@ -189,6 +189,24 @@ function measureScrollbar() {
   return scrollbarWidth
 }
 
+// Use requestIdleCallback() if available, else fall back to setTimeout().
+// Throttle so as not to run too frequently.
+function throttleIdleTask(func) {
+  const queue =
+    typeof requestIdleCallback === 'function' ? requestIdleCallback : setTimeout
+  const clear =
+    typeof cancelIdleCallback === 'function' ? cancelIdleCallback : clearTimeout
+
+  let id
+
+  return function throttled() {
+    if (id) {
+      clear(id)
+    }
+    id = queue(func)
+  }
+}
+
 export {
   getData,
   getSanitizedData,
@@ -197,4 +215,5 @@ export {
   deepMerge,
   unifiedToNative,
   measureScrollbar,
+  throttleIdleTask,
 }