diff --git a/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased.lean b/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased.lean
index f811d99cbaace4..331010eb8cb11b 100644
--- a/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased.lean
+++ b/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased.lean
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ Currently, this file contains linters checking
 - for module names to be in upper camel case,
 - for module names to be valid Windows filenames, and containing no forbidden characters such as
   `!`, `.` or spaces.
-- for any code containing blocklisted unicode characters
-- bad unicode characters
+- for any code containing unicode characters not on the allowlist
+- for incorrect usage of unicode variant selectors
 
 For historic reasons, some further such checks are written in a Python script `lint-style.py`:
 these are gradually being rewritten in Lean.
@@ -394,7 +394,10 @@ def findBadUnicode (s : String) : Array StyleError :=
 
 end UnicodeLinter
 
-/-- Lint a collection of input strings for disallowed unicode characters. -/
+/-- Lint a collection of input strings for disallowed unicode characters.
+
+This is implemented using an allowlist, see
+`Mathlib.Linter.TextBased.UnicodeLinter.isAllowedCharacter`. -/
 public register_option linter.unicodeLinter : Bool := { defValue := true }
 
 @[inherit_doc linter.unicodeLinter]
diff --git a/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased/UnicodeLinter.lean b/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased/UnicodeLinter.lean
index 58e517e6354e43..b4b7a8b9e8c9e3 100644
--- a/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased/UnicodeLinter.lean
+++ b/Mathlib/Tactic/Linter/TextBased/UnicodeLinter.lean
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ import Mathlib.Init
 
 The actual linter is defined in `TextBased.lean`.
 
-This file defines the blocklist and other tools used by the linter.
+This file defines the allowlist and other tools used by the linter.
+
+**When changing, make sure to stay in sync with [style guide](https://github.com/leanprover-community/leanprover-community.github.io/blob/lean4/templates/contribute/style.md#unicode-usage)**
 
 -/
 
@@ -184,20 +186,26 @@ public def emojis : Array Char := #[
 /-- Unicode symbols in mathlib that should always be followed by the text variant selector. -/
 public def nonEmojis : Array Char := #[]
 
-/-- Blocklist: If `false`, the character is not allowed in Mathlib.
+/-- If `false`, the character is not allowed in Mathlib.
+
+Implemented using an allowlist consisting of:
+- certain ASCII characters
+- characters with abbreviations in the VSCode extension (`withVSCodeAbbrev`)
+- "the rest" (`othersInMathlib`)
+
 Note: if `true`, a character might still not be allowed depending on context
 (e.g. misplaced variant selectors).
 -/
 public def isAllowedCharacter (c : Char) : Bool :=
   ASCII.allowed c
   || withVSCodeAbbrev.contains c
+  || othersInMathlib.contains c
   || emojis.contains c
   || nonEmojis.contains c
   || c == UnicodeVariant.emoji
   || c == UnicodeVariant.text
-  || othersInMathlib.contains c
 
-/-- Provide default replacement (`String`) for a blocklisted character, or `none` if none defined -/
+/-- Provide default replacement (`String`) for a disallowed character, or `none` if none defined -/
 public def replaceDisallowed : Char → Option String
 | '\u0009' => "  "    -- "TAB" => "2 spaces"
 | '\u000B' => "\n"    -- "LINE TABULATION" => "Line Feed"