diff --git a/pipelines/approval.py b/pipelines/approval.py
index b32f33b..90b30c0 100644
--- a/pipelines/approval.py
+++ b/pipelines/approval.py
@@ -15,4 +15,6 @@ APPROVAL_REACTIONS = {
 
 def reaction_to_response(reaction_key: str) -> str | None:
     """Map a reaction emoji to an approval response."""
-    return APPROVAL_REACTIONS.get(reaction_key)
+    # Strip variation selectors (U+FE0E, U+FE0F) — Element often appends these
+    cleaned = reaction_key.replace("\ufe0f", "").replace("\ufe0e", "")
+    return APPROVAL_REACTIONS.get(cleaned) or APPROVAL_REACTIONS.get(reaction_key)