diff --git a/lib/commons/text/has-unicode.js b/lib/commons/text/has-unicode.js
index 9d10ad6834..a7ac371906 100644
--- a/lib/commons/text/has-unicode.js
+++ b/lib/commons/text/has-unicode.js
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import {
   getUnicodeNonBmpRegExp,
   getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp,
-  getPunctuationRegExp
+  getPunctuationRegExp,
+  getCategoryFormatRegExp
 } from './unicode';
 import emojiRegexText from 'emoji-regex';
 
@@ -20,19 +21,22 @@ import emojiRegexText from 'emoji-regex';
  */
 function hasUnicode(str, options) {
   const { emoji, nonBmp, punctuations } = options;
+  let value = false;
+
   if (emoji) {
-    return emojiRegexText().test(str);
+    value ||= emojiRegexText().test(str);
   }
   if (nonBmp) {
-    return (
+    value ||=
       getUnicodeNonBmpRegExp().test(str) ||
-      getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp().test(str)
-    );
+      getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp().test(str) ||
+      getCategoryFormatRegExp().test(str);
   }
   if (punctuations) {
-    return getPunctuationRegExp().test(str);
+    value ||= getPunctuationRegExp().test(str);
   }
-  return false;
+
+  return value;
 }
 
 export default hasUnicode;
diff --git a/lib/commons/text/remove-unicode.js b/lib/commons/text/remove-unicode.js
index ddf10ae7ed..4527cfc871 100644
--- a/lib/commons/text/remove-unicode.js
+++ b/lib/commons/text/remove-unicode.js
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import {
   getUnicodeNonBmpRegExp,
   getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp,
-  getPunctuationRegExp
+  getPunctuationRegExp,
+  getCategoryFormatRegExp
 } from './unicode.js';
 import emojiRegexText from 'emoji-regex';
 
@@ -25,8 +26,10 @@ function removeUnicode(str, options) {
     str = str.replace(emojiRegexText(), '');
   }
   if (nonBmp) {
-    str = str.replace(getUnicodeNonBmpRegExp(), '');
-    str = str.replace(getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp(), '');
+    str = str
+      .replace(getUnicodeNonBmpRegExp(), '')
+      .replace(getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp(), '')
+      .replace(getCategoryFormatRegExp(), '');
   }
   if (punctuations) {
     str = str.replace(getPunctuationRegExp(), '');
diff --git a/lib/commons/text/unicode.js b/lib/commons/text/unicode.js
index 9a8fd11901..f76d354cba 100644
--- a/lib/commons/text/unicode.js
+++ b/lib/commons/text/unicode.js
@@ -83,3 +83,15 @@ export function getSupplementaryPrivateUseRegExp() {
   //      ┏━━━━━━┻━━━━━━┓┏━━━━━━┻━━━━━━┓
   return /[\uDB80-\uDBBF][\uDC00-\uDFFF]/g;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Get regular expression for unicode format category.
+ * When we drop IE11 we can instead use unicode character escape `/p{Cf}/gu`
+ * Reference:
+ * - https://www.compart.com/en/unicode/category/Cf
+ *
+ * @returns {RegExp}
+ */
+export function getCategoryFormatRegExp() {
+  return /[\xAD\u0600-\u0605\u061C\u06DD\u070F\u08E2\u180E\u200B-\u200F\u202A-\u202E\u2060-\u2064\u2066-\u206F\uFEFF\uFFF9-\uFFFB]|\uD804[\uDCBD\uDCCD]|\uD80D[\uDC30-\uDC38]|\uD82F[\uDCA0-\uDCA3]|\uD834[\uDD73-\uDD7A]|\uDB40[\uDC01\uDC20-\uDC7F]/g;
+}
diff --git a/test/commons/text/unicode.js b/test/commons/text/unicode.js
index b5d8b2489e..819e01d271 100644
--- a/test/commons/text/unicode.js
+++ b/test/commons/text/unicode.js
@@ -1,86 +1,94 @@
-describe('text.hasUnicode', function () {
-  describe('text.hasUnicode, characters of type Non Bi Multilingual Plane', function () {
-    it('returns false when given string is alphanumeric', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('1 apple', {
+describe('text.hasUnicode', () => {
+  describe('text.hasUnicode, characters of type Non Bi Multilingual Plane', () => {
+    it('returns false when given string is alphanumeric', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('1 apple', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns false when given string is number', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
+    it('returns false when given string is number', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns false when given string is a sentence', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth is round', {
+    it('returns false when given string is a sentence', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth is round', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string is a phonetic extension', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('ᴁ', {
+    it('returns true when given string is a phonetic extension', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('ᴁ', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string is a combining diacritical marks supplement', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('ᴁ', {
+    it('returns true when given string is a combining diacritical marks supplement', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('ᴁ', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string is a currency symbols', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('₨ 20000', {
+    it('returns true when given string is a currency symbols', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('₨ 20000', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has arrows', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('← turn left', {
+    it('returns true when given string has arrows', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('← turn left', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has geometric shapes', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('◓', {
+    it('returns true when given string has geometric shapes', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('◓', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has math operators', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('√4 = 2', {
+    it('returns true when given string has math operators', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('√4 = 2', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has windings font', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('▽', {
+    it('returns true when given string has windings font', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('▽', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true for a string with characters in supplementary private use area A', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('\uDB80\uDFFE', {
+    it('returns true for a string with characters in supplementary private use area A', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('\uDB80\uDFFE', {
+        nonBmp: true
+      });
+      assert.isTrue(actual);
+    });
+
+    it('returns true when given string has format unicode', () => {
+      // zero-width spacer character U+200B
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('\u200BHello World', {
         nonBmp: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
   });
 
-  describe('text.hasUnicode, characters of type Emoji', function () {
-    it('returns false when given string is alphanumeric', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode(
+  describe('text.hasUnicode, characters of type Emoji', () => {
+    it('returns false when given string is alphanumeric', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode(
         '1 apple a day, keeps the doctor away',
         {
           emoji: true
@@ -89,60 +97,60 @@ describe('text.hasUnicode', function () {
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns false when given string is number', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
+    it('returns false when given string is number', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
         emoji: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns false when given string is a sentence', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth is round', {
+    it('returns false when given string is a sentence', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth is round', {
         emoji: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has emoji', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('🌎 is round', {
+    it('returns true when given string has emoji', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('🌎 is round', {
         emoji: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has emoji', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('plant a 🌱', {
+    it('returns true when given string has emoji', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('plant a 🌱', {
         emoji: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
   });
 
-  describe('text.hasUnicode, characters of type punctuations', function () {
-    it('returns false when given string is number', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
+  describe('text.hasUnicode, characters of type punctuations', () => {
+    it('returns false when given string is number', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
         punctuations: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns false when given string is a sentence', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth is round', {
+    it('returns false when given string is a sentence', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth is round', {
         punctuations: true
       });
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has punctuations', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode("What's your name?", {
+    it('returns true when given string has punctuations', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode("What's your name?", {
         punctuations: true
       });
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true for strings with money signs and odd symbols', function () {
+    it('returns true for strings with money signs and odd symbols', () => {
       ['£', '¢', '¥', '€', '§', '±'].forEach(function (str) {
-        var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode(str, {
+        const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode(str, {
           punctuations: true
         });
         assert.isTrue(actual);
@@ -150,9 +158,9 @@ describe('text.hasUnicode', function () {
     });
   });
 
-  describe('text.hasUnicode, has combination of unicode', function () {
-    it('returns false when given string is number', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
+  describe('text.hasUnicode, has combination of unicode', () => {
+    it('returns false when given string is number', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('100', {
         emoji: true,
         nonBmp: true,
         punctuations: true
@@ -160,8 +168,8 @@ describe('text.hasUnicode', function () {
       assert.isFalse(actual);
     });
 
-    it('returns true when given string has unicode characters', function () {
-      var actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode(
+    it('returns true when given string has unicode characters', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode(
         'The ☀️ is orange, the ◓ is white.',
         {
           emoji: true,
@@ -171,61 +179,80 @@ describe('text.hasUnicode', function () {
       );
       assert.isTrue(actual);
     });
+
+    it('returns true when given format unicode characters', () => {
+      // zero-width spacer character U+200B
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('\u200BHello World', {
+        emoji: true,
+        nonBmp: true,
+        punctuations: true
+      });
+      assert.isTrue(actual);
+    });
+
+    it('returns true when given punctuation characters', () => {
+      const actual = axe.commons.text.hasUnicode('Earth!!!', {
+        emoji: true,
+        nonBmp: true,
+        punctuations: true
+      });
+      assert.isTrue(actual);
+    });
   });
 });
 
-describe('text.removeUnicode', function () {
-  it('returns string by removing non BMP unicode ', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('₨₨20000₨₨', {
+describe('text.removeUnicode', () => {
+  it('returns string by removing non BMP unicode ', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('₨₨20000₨₨', {
       nonBmp: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, '20000');
   });
 
-  it('returns string by removing emoji unicode ', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('☀️Sun 🌎Earth', {
+  it('returns string by removing emoji unicode ', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('☀️Sun 🌎Earth', {
       emoji: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, 'Sun Earth');
   });
 
-  it('returns string after removing punctuations from word', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('Earth!!!', {
+  it('returns string after removing punctuations from word', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('Earth!!!', {
       punctuations: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, 'Earth');
   });
 
-  it('returns string removing all punctuations', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('<!,."\':;!>', {
+  it('returns string removing all punctuations', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('<!,."\':;!>', {
       punctuations: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, '');
   });
 
-  it('returns string removing all private use unicode', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('', {
+  it('returns string removing all private use unicode', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('', {
       nonBmp: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, '');
   });
 
-  it('returns string removing all supplementary private use unicode', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('󰀀󿰀󿿽󰏽', {
+  it('returns string removing all supplementary private use unicode', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('󰀀󿰀󿿽󰏽', {
       nonBmp: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, '');
   });
 
-  it('returns the string with supplementary private use area A characters removed', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('\uDB80\uDFFE', {
+  it('returns the string with supplementary private use area A characters removed', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('\uDB80\uDFFE', {
       nonBmp: true
     });
     assert.equal(actual, '');
   });
 
-  it('returns string removing combination of unicode characters', function () {
-    var actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode(
+  it('returns string removing combination of unicode characters', () => {
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode(
       'The ☀️ is orange, the ◓ is white.',
       {
         emoji: true,
@@ -235,4 +262,12 @@ describe('text.removeUnicode', function () {
     );
     assert.equal(actual, 'The  is orange the  is white');
   });
+
+  it('returns string removing format unicode', () => {
+    // zero-width spacer character U+200B
+    const actual = axe.commons.text.removeUnicode('\u200BHello World', {
+      nonBmp: true
+    });
+    assert.equal(actual, 'Hello World');
+  });
 });