diff --git a/bin/gitmoji.jq b/bin/gitmoji.jq
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7c99b6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/gitmoji.jq
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env -S jq -jf
+# https://github.com/carloscuesta/gitmoji-cli/issues/1246
+.[] | "s=\(.code)=\(.emoji)=g;"
diff --git a/functions/main.zsh b/functions/main.zsh
index 4c91911..cccce71 100644
--- a/functions/main.zsh
+++ b/functions/main.zsh
@@ -13,9 +13,6 @@
 (($+commands[grc])) || grc() {eval ${@[2,-1]}}
 (($+commands[jq])) || jq() {echo ';'}
 
-mkdir -p ~/.gitmoji
-touch ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json
-
 # dictionary $ZINIT cannot be passed
 PLUGINS_DIR=${ZINIT[PLUGINS_DIR]}
 
diff --git a/sources/git-checkout.zsh b/sources/git-checkout.zsh
index 0fb9768..3e66f9c 100644
--- a/sources/git-checkout.zsh
+++ b/sources/git-checkout.zsh
@@ -5,11 +5,11 @@ case $group in
   ;;
 'recent commit object name')
   git log --color=always $word |
-    perl -pe' '$(jq -j '.[] | "s=\(.code)=\(.emoji)=g;"' ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json) |
+    perl -pe' '$([ -f ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json ] && ${src:h:h}/bin/gitmoji.jq ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json || :) |
     delta
   ;;
 *)
   git log --color=always $word |
-    perl -pe' '$(jq -j '.[] | "s=\(.code)=\(.emoji)=g;"' ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json)
+    perl -pe' '$([ -f ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json ] && ${src:h:h}/bin/gitmoji.jq ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json || :)
   ;;
 esac
diff --git a/sources/git-log.zsh b/sources/git-log.zsh
index f7d4f54..61ee6b6 100644
--- a/sources/git-log.zsh
+++ b/sources/git-log.zsh
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # :fzf-tab:complete:git-log:argument-1
 git log --color=always $word |
-  perl -pe' '$(jq -j '.[] | "s=\(.code)=\(.emoji)=g;"' ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json)
+  perl -pe' '$([ -f ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json ] && ${src:h:h}/bin/gitmoji.jq ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json || :)
diff --git a/sources/git-reflog.zsh b/sources/git-reflog.zsh
index d253665..2041200 100644
--- a/sources/git-reflog.zsh
+++ b/sources/git-reflog.zsh
@@ -2,10 +2,10 @@
 case $group in
 command)
   git reflog --color=always |
-    perl -pe' '$(jq -j '.[] | "s=\(.code)=\(.emoji)=g;"' ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json)
+    perl -pe' '$([ -f ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json ] && ${src:h:h}/bin/gitmoji.jq ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json || :)
   ;;
 reference)
   git reflog --color=always $word |
-    perl -pe' '$(jq -j '.[] | "s=\(.code)=\(.emoji)=g;"' ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json)
+    perl -pe' '$([ -f ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json ] && ${src:h:h}/bin/gitmoji.jq ~/.gitmoji/gitmojis.json || :)
   ;;
 esac