diff --git src/wp-includes/general-template.php src/wp-includes/general-template.php
index ca48499..d1a4982 100644
--- src/wp-includes/general-template.php
+++ src/wp-includes/general-template.php
@@ -2795,16 +2795,23 @@ function wp_site_icon() {
  *
  * These performance improving indicators work by using `<link rel"…">`.
  *
+ * TODO - Move Emoji CDN hinting to the JavaScript loader.
+ *
  * @since 4.6.0
  */
 function wp_resource_hints() {
 	$hints = array(
 		'dns-prefetch' => wp_dependencies_unique_hosts(),
-		'preconnect'   => array( 's.w.org' ),
+		'preconnect'   => array(),
 		'prefetch'     => array(),
 		'prerender'    => array(),
 	);
 
+	// Add DNS prefetch for the Emoji CDN.
+	// The path is removed in the foreach loop below.
+	/** This filter is documented in wp-includes/formatting.php */
+	$hints['dns-prefetch'][] = apply_filters( 'emoji_svg_url', 'https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/2/svg/' );
+
 	foreach ( $hints as $relation_type => $urls ) {
 		/**
 		 * Filters domains and URLs for resource hints.
diff --git tests/phpunit/tests/general/resourceHints.php tests/phpunit/tests/general/resourceHints.php
index 95958e7..7546875 100644
--- tests/phpunit/tests/general/resourceHints.php
+++ tests/phpunit/tests/general/resourceHints.php
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	}
 
 	function test_should_have_defaults_on_frontend() {
-		$expected = "<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n";
+		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n";
 
 		$this->expectOutputString( $expected );
 
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	}
 
 	function test_dns_prefetching() {
-		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//wordpress.org'>\n" .
+		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n" .
+					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//wordpress.org'>\n" .
 					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//google.com'>\n" .
-					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//make.wordpress.org'>\n" .
-					"<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n";
+					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//make.wordpress.org'>\n";
 
 		add_filter( 'wp_resource_hints', array( $this, '_add_dns_prefetch_domains' ), 10, 2 );
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	}
 
 	function test_prerender() {
-		$expected = "<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n" .
+		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n" .
 					"<link rel='prerender' href='https://make.wordpress.org/great-again'>\n" .
 					"<link rel='prerender' href='http://jobs.wordpress.net'>\n" .
 					"<link rel='prerender' href='//core.trac.wordpress.org'>\n";
@@ -93,8 +93,8 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	}
 
 	function test_parse_url_dns_prefetch() {
-		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//make.wordpress.org'>\n" .
-					"<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n";
+		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n" .
+					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//make.wordpress.org'>\n";
 
 		add_filter( 'wp_resource_hints', array( $this, '_add_dns_prefetch_long_urls' ), 10, 2 );
 
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 
 	function test_dns_prefetch_styles() {
 		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//fonts.googleapis.com'>\n" .
-					"<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n";
+					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n";
 
 		$args = array(
 			'family' => 'Open+Sans:400',
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 
 	function test_dns_prefetch_scripts() {
 		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//fonts.googleapis.com'>\n" .
-					"<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n";
+					"<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n";
 
 		$args = array(
 			'family' => 'Open+Sans:400',
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ class Tests_WP_Resource_Hints extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	}
 
 	function test_dns_prefetch_scripts_does_not_included_registered_only() {
-		$expected = "<link rel='preconnect' href='http://s.w.org'>\n";
+		$expected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s.w.org'>\n";
 		$unexpected = "<link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//wordpress.org'>\n";
 
 		wp_register_script( 'jquery-elsewhere', 'https://wordpress.org/wp-includes/js/jquery/jquery.js' );