diff --git a/lib/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier.ex b/lib/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier.ex
index ecf6d9cd8..9ed54fa6e 100644
--- a/lib/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier.ex
+++ b/lib/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier.ex
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ defmodule Pleroma.Web.ActivityPub.Transmogrifier do
 
   @doc """
   Modifies an incoming AP object (mastodon format) to our internal format.
+  (This only deals with non-activity AP objects)
   """
   def fix_object(object, options \\ []) do
     object
@@ -44,6 +45,38 @@ def fix_object(object, options \\ []) do
     |> fix_content_map()
     |> fix_addressing()
     |> fix_summary()
+    |> fix_history(&fix_object/1)
+  end
+
+  defp maybe_fix_object(%{"attributedTo" => _} = object), do: fix_object(object)
+  defp maybe_fix_object(object), do: object
+
+  defp fix_history(%{"formerRepresentations" => %{"orderedItems" => list}} = obj, fix_fun)
+       when is_list(list) do
+    update_in(obj["formerRepresentations"]["orderedItems"], fn h -> Enum.map(h, fix_fun) end)
+  end
+
+  defp fix_history(obj, _), do: obj
+
+  defp fix_recursive(obj, fun) do
+    # unlike Erlang, Elixir does not support recursive inline functions
+    # which would allow us to avoid reconstructing this on every recursion
+    rec_fun = fn
+      obj when is_map(obj) -> fix_recursive(obj, fun)
+      # there may be simple AP IDs in history (or object field)
+      obj -> obj
+    end
+
+    obj
+    |> fun.()
+    |> fix_history(rec_fun)
+    |> then(fn
+      %{"object" => object} = doc when is_map(object) ->
+        update_in(doc["object"], rec_fun)
+
+      apdoc ->
+        apdoc
+    end)
   end
 
   def fix_summary(%{"summary" => nil} = object) do
@@ -414,17 +447,10 @@ defp get_reported(objects) do
   end
 
   def handle_incoming(data, options \\ []) do
-    data = normalise_addressing_public(data)
-
-    data =
-      if data["object"] != nil do
-        object = normalise_addressing_public(data["object"])
-        Map.put(data, "object", object)
-      else
-        data
-      end
-
-    handle_incoming_normalised(data, options)
+    data
+    |> fix_recursive(&normalise_addressing_public/1)
+    |> fix_recursive(&strip_internal_fields/1)
+    |> handle_incoming_normalised(options)
   end
 
   defp handle_incoming_normalised(data, options)
@@ -490,7 +516,6 @@ defp handle_incoming_normalised(
 
     object =
       data["object"]
-      |> strip_internal_fields()
       |> fix_type(fetch_options)
       |> fix_in_reply_to(fetch_options)
       |> fix_quote_url(fetch_options)
@@ -545,6 +570,9 @@ defp handle_incoming_normalised(
          _options
        )
        when type in ~w{Update Block Follow Accept Reject} do
+    fixed_obj = maybe_fix_object(data["object"])
+    data = if fixed_obj != nil, do: %{data | "object" => fixed_obj}, else: data
+
     with {:ok, %User{}} <- ObjectValidator.fetch_actor(data),
          {:ok, activity, _} <-
            Pipeline.common_pipeline(data, local: false) do
@@ -1043,6 +1071,8 @@ def prepare_attachments(object) do
     Map.put(object, "attachment", attachments)
   end
 
+  # for outgoing docs immediately stripping internal fields recursively breaks later emoji transformations
+  # (XXX: it would be better to reorder operations so we can always use recursive stripping)
   def strip_internal_fields(object) do
     Map.drop(object, Pleroma.Constants.object_internal_fields())
   end
diff --git a/test/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier_test.exs b/test/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier_test.exs
index be07a0fe4..b90692370 100644
--- a/test/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier_test.exs
+++ b/test/pleroma/web/activity_pub/transmogrifier_test.exs
@@ -164,6 +164,183 @@ test "it accepts quote posts" do
       # It fetched the quoted post
       assert Object.normalize("https://misskey.io/notes/8vs6wxufd0")
     end
+
+    test "doesn't allow remote edits to fake local likes" do
+      # as a spot check for no internal fields getting injected
+      now = DateTime.utc_now()
+      pub_date = DateTime.to_iso8601(Timex.subtract(now, Timex.Duration.from_minutes(3)))
+      edit_date = DateTime.to_iso8601(now)
+
+      local_user = insert(:user)
+
+      create_data = %{
+        "type" => "Create",
+        "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/2619539638/activity",
+        "actor" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin",
+        "to" => ["as:Public"],
+        "cc" => [],
+        "object" => %{
+          "type" => "Note",
+          "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/2619539638",
+          "attributedTo" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin",
+          "to" => ["as:Public"],
+          "cc" => [],
+          "published" => pub_date,
+          "content" => "miaow",
+          "likes" => [local_user.ap_id]
+        }
+      }
+
+      update_data =
+        create_data
+        |> Map.put("type", "Update")
+        |> Map.put("id", create_data["object"]["id"] <> "/update/1")
+        |> put_in(["object", "content"], "miaow :3")
+        |> put_in(["object", "updated"], edit_date)
+        |> put_in(["object", "formerRepresentations"], %{
+          "type" => "OrderedCollection",
+          "totalItems" => 1,
+          "orderedItems" => [create_data["object"]]
+        })
+
+      {:ok, %Pleroma.Activity{} = activity} = Transmogrifier.handle_incoming(create_data)
+      %Pleroma.Object{} = object = Object.get_by_ap_id(activity.data["object"])
+      assert object.data["content"] == "miaow"
+      assert object.data["likes"] == []
+      assert object.data["like_count"] == 0
+
+      {:ok, %Pleroma.Activity{} = activity} = Transmogrifier.handle_incoming(update_data)
+      %Pleroma.Object{} = object = Object.get_by_ap_id(activity.data["object"]["id"])
+      assert object.data["content"] == "miaow :3"
+      assert object.data["likes"] == []
+      assert object.data["like_count"] == 0
+    end
+
+    test "doesn't trip over remote likes in notes" do
+      now = DateTime.utc_now()
+      pub_date = DateTime.to_iso8601(Timex.subtract(now, Timex.Duration.from_minutes(3)))
+      edit_date = DateTime.to_iso8601(now)
+
+      create_data = %{
+        "type" => "Create",
+        "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/3409297097/activity",
+        "actor" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin",
+        "to" => ["as:Public"],
+        "cc" => [],
+        "object" => %{
+          "type" => "Note",
+          "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/3409297097",
+          "attributedTo" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin",
+          "to" => ["as:Public"],
+          "cc" => [],
+          "published" => pub_date,
+          "content" => "miaow",
+          "likes" => %{
+            "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/3409297097/likes",
+            "totalItems" => 0,
+            "type" => "Collection"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      update_data =
+        create_data
+        |> Map.put("type", "Update")
+        |> Map.put("id", create_data["object"]["id"] <> "/update/1")
+        |> put_in(["object", "content"], "miaow :3")
+        |> put_in(["object", "updated"], edit_date)
+        |> put_in(["object", "likes", "totalItems"], 666)
+        |> put_in(["object", "formerRepresentations"], %{
+          "type" => "OrderedCollection",
+          "totalItems" => 1,
+          "orderedItems" => [create_data["object"]]
+        })
+
+      {:ok, %Pleroma.Activity{} = activity} = Transmogrifier.handle_incoming(create_data)
+      %Pleroma.Object{} = object = Object.get_by_ap_id(activity.data["object"])
+      assert object.data["content"] == "miaow"
+      assert object.data["likes"] == []
+      assert object.data["like_count"] == 0
+
+      {:ok, %Pleroma.Activity{} = activity} = Transmogrifier.handle_incoming(update_data)
+      %Pleroma.Object{} = object = Object.get_by_ap_id(activity.data["object"]["id"])
+      assert object.data["content"] == "miaow :3"
+      assert object.data["likes"] == []
+      # in the future this should retain remote likes, but for now:
+      assert object.data["like_count"] == 0
+    end
+
+    test "doesn't trip over remote likes in polls" do
+      now = DateTime.utc_now()
+      pub_date = DateTime.to_iso8601(Timex.subtract(now, Timex.Duration.from_minutes(3)))
+      edit_date = DateTime.to_iso8601(now)
+
+      create_data = %{
+        "type" => "Create",
+        "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/2471790073/activity",
+        "actor" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin",
+        "to" => ["as:Public"],
+        "cc" => [],
+        "object" => %{
+          "type" => "Question",
+          "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/2471790073",
+          "attributedTo" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin",
+          "to" => ["as:Public"],
+          "cc" => [],
+          "published" => pub_date,
+          "content" => "vote!",
+          "anyOf" => [
+            %{
+              "type" => "Note",
+              "name" => "a",
+              "replies" => %{
+                "type" => "Collection",
+                "totalItems" => 3
+              }
+            },
+            %{
+              "type" => "Note",
+              "name" => "b",
+              "replies" => %{
+                "type" => "Collection",
+                "totalItems" => 1
+              }
+            }
+          ],
+          "likes" => %{
+            "id" => "http://mastodon.example.org/users/admin/statuses/2471790073/likes",
+            "totalItems" => 0,
+            "type" => "Collection"
+          }
+        }
+      }
+
+      update_data =
+        create_data
+        |> Map.put("type", "Update")
+        |> Map.put("id", create_data["object"]["id"] <> "/update/1")
+        |> put_in(["object", "content"], "vote now!")
+        |> put_in(["object", "updated"], edit_date)
+        |> put_in(["object", "likes", "totalItems"], 666)
+        |> put_in(["object", "formerRepresentations"], %{
+          "type" => "OrderedCollection",
+          "totalItems" => 1,
+          "orderedItems" => [create_data["object"]]
+        })
+
+      {:ok, %Pleroma.Activity{} = activity} = Transmogrifier.handle_incoming(create_data)
+      %Pleroma.Object{} = object = Object.get_by_ap_id(activity.data["object"])
+      assert object.data["content"] == "vote!"
+      assert object.data["likes"] == []
+      assert object.data["like_count"] == 0
+
+      {:ok, %Pleroma.Activity{} = activity} = Transmogrifier.handle_incoming(update_data)
+      %Pleroma.Object{} = object = Object.get_by_ap_id(activity.data["object"]["id"])
+      assert object.data["content"] == "vote now!"
+      assert object.data["likes"] == []
+      # in the future this should retain remote likes, but for now:
+      assert object.data["like_count"] == 0
+    end
   end
 
   describe "prepare outgoing" do