diff --git a/runtime/doc/options.txt b/runtime/doc/options.txt
index 84deecae6f..e2206f0b46 100644
--- a/runtime/doc/options.txt
+++ b/runtime/doc/options.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-*options.txt*	For Vim version 9.1.  Last change: 2025 Mar 28
+*options.txt*	For Vim version 9.1.  Last change: 2025 Apr 04
 
 
 		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL	  by Bram Moolenaar
@@ -2989,7 +2989,10 @@ A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
 					difference.
 				word    Use internal diff to perform a
 					|word|-wise diff and highlight the
-					difference.
+					difference.  Non-alphanumeric
+					multi-byte characters such as emoji
+					and CJK characters are considered
+					individual words.
 
 		internal	Use the internal diff library.  This is
 				ignored when 'diffexpr' is set.  *E960*
diff --git a/src/diff.c b/src/diff.c
index 3adcdb7dba..e694cf20cd 100644
--- a/src/diff.c
+++ b/src/diff.c
@@ -3309,10 +3309,17 @@ diff_find_change_inline_diff(
 	    char_u *s;
 	    for (s = curline; *s != NUL;)
 	    {
-		// Always use the first buffer's 'iskeyword' to have a consistent diff
 		int new_in_keyword = FALSE;
 		if (diff_flags & DIFF_INLINE_WORD)
-		    new_in_keyword = vim_iswordp_buf(s, curtab->tp_diffbuf[file1_idx]);
+		{
+		    // Always use the first buffer's 'iskeyword' to have a
+		    // consistent diff.
+		    // For multibyte chars, only treat alphanumeric chars
+		    // (class 2) as "word", as other classes such as emojis and
+		    // CJK ideographs do not usually benefit from word diff as
+		    // Vim doesn't have a good way to segment them.
+		    new_in_keyword = (mb_get_class_buf(s, curtab->tp_diffbuf[file1_idx]) == 2);
+		}
 		if (in_keyword && !new_in_keyword)
 		{
 		    ga_append(curstr, NL);
diff --git a/src/mbyte.c b/src/mbyte.c
index a38ab24f32..cc8d628ed5 100644
--- a/src/mbyte.c
+++ b/src/mbyte.c
@@ -828,8 +828,8 @@ remove_bom(char_u *s)
  * Get class of pointer:
  * 0 for blank or NUL
  * 1 for punctuation
- * 2 for an (ASCII) word character
- * >2 for other word characters
+ * 2 for an alphanumeric word character
+ * >2 for other word characters, including CJK and emoji
  */
     int
 mb_get_class(char_u *p)
diff --git a/src/testdir/dumps/Test_diff_inline_word_03.dump b/src/testdir/dumps/Test_diff_inline_word_03.dump
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30efaed3a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testdir/dumps/Test_diff_inline_word_03.dump
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+| +0#0000e05#a8a8a8255@1|🚀*0#0000000#ffd7ff255|⛵️*2&#ff404010|一*0&#ffd7ff255|二|三*2&#ff404010|ひ*0&#ffd7ff255|ら|が*0&#4040ff13|な*0&#ffd7ff255|Δ+2&#ff404010|έ|λ|τ|α| +0&#ffd7ff255|Δ+2&#ff404010|e|l|t|a| +0&#ffd7ff255|f|o@1|b|a||+1&#ffffff0| +0#0000e05#a8a8a8255@1|🚀*0#0000000#ffd7ff255|🛸*2&#ff404010|一*0&#ffd7ff255|二|四*2&#ff404010|ひ*0&#ffd7ff255|ら|な|δ+2&#ff404010|έ|λ|τ|α| +0&#ffd7ff255|δ+2&#ff404010|e|l|t|a| +0&#ffd7ff255|f|o@1|b|a|r| 
+|~+0#4040ff13#ffffff0| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|~| @35||+1#0000000&|~+0#4040ff13&| @35
+|X+3#0000000&|d|i|f|i|l|e|1| @10|1|,|1| @11|A|l@1| |X+1&&|d|i|f|i|l|e|2| @10|1|,|1| @11|A|l@1
+|:+0&&> @73
diff --git a/src/testdir/test_diffmode.vim b/src/testdir/test_diffmode.vim
index 1b5e5c0819..d0c2f18e4e 100644
--- a/src/testdir/test_diffmode.vim
+++ b/src/testdir/test_diffmode.vim
@@ -2444,6 +2444,11 @@ func Test_diff_inline()
 
   call term_sendkeys(buf, ":windo set iskeyword&\<CR>:1wincmd w\<CR>")
 
+  " word diff: test handling of multi-byte characters. Only alphanumeric chars
+  " (e.g. Greek alphabet, but not CJK/emoji) count as words.
+  call WriteDiffFiles(buf, ["🚀⛵️一二三ひらがなΔέλτα Δelta foobar"], ["🚀🛸一二四ひらなδέλτα δelta foobar"])
+  call VerifyInternal(buf, "Test_diff_inline_word_03", " diffopt+=inline:word")
+
   " char diff: should slide highlight to whitespace boundary if possible for
   " better readability (by using forced indent-heuristics). A wrong result
   " would be if the highlight is "Bar, prefix". It should be "prefixBar, "
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index d1ba7adf5a..3e45e2f95f 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -704,6 +704,8 @@ static char *(features[]) =
 
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
+/**/
+    1276,
 /**/
     1275,
 /**/