diff --git a/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/eye_legacy.udm b/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/eye_legacy.udm
index 848fea62b..ea87e3783 100644
--- a/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/eye_legacy.udm
+++ b/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/eye_legacy.udm
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 		},
 		{
 			$string name "emission_map"
-			$string default "white"
+			$string default "black"
 		}
 	]
 }
diff --git a/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/pbr.udm b/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/pbr.udm
index 530be2ea2..b89fca080 100644
--- a/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/pbr.udm
+++ b/assets/scripts/shader_data/materials/pbr.udm
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
 		},
 		{
 			$string name "emission_map"
-			$string default "white"
+			$string default "black"
 			$string specializationType "emission"
 		},
 		{
diff --git a/core/client/src/rendering/shaders/world/c_shader_textured.cpp b/core/client/src/rendering/shaders/world/c_shader_textured.cpp
index f461ff076..8c2d49be5 100644
--- a/core/client/src/rendering/shaders/world/c_shader_textured.cpp
+++ b/core/client/src/rendering/shaders/world/c_shader_textured.cpp
@@ -425,8 +425,18 @@ std::shared_ptr<prosper::IDescriptorSetGroup> ShaderGameWorldLightingPass::Initi
 			materialFlags |= pragma::rendering::shader_material::MaterialFlags::HasParallaxMap;
 			break;
 		case "emission_map"_:
-			materialFlags |= pragma::rendering::shader_material::MaterialFlags::HasEmissionMap;
-			break;
+			{
+				materialFlags |= pragma::rendering::shader_material::MaterialFlags::HasEmissionMap;
+				auto path = pragma::asset::get_normalized_path(texData->GetName(), pragma::asset::Type::Texture);
+				static const auto emissionNeutralMap = pragma::asset::get_normalized_path("black", pragma::asset::Type::Texture);
+				if(path == emissionNeutralMap) {
+					// If the material uses the neutral emission texture, we can completely ignore
+					// it for the shader and use the default values instead, which saves
+					// a lot of texture lookups.
+					materialFlags &= ~pragma::rendering::shader_material::MaterialFlags::HasEmissionMap;
+				}
+				break;
+			}
 		case "rma_map"_:
 			{
 				materialFlags |= pragma::rendering::shader_material::MaterialFlags::HasRmaMap;