diff --git a/changelogs/upcoming/7606.md b/changelogs/upcoming/7606.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ba11d1f23d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/upcoming/7606.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+**Bug fixes**
+
+- Fixed `EuiIconTip`'s default `aria-label` text to be i18n tokenizable
+
+**Accessibility**
+
+- `EuiIcons` no longer apply `aria-hidden` to empty icons, as long as a valid title or label is provided to the icon. In particular, this is intended to improve the accessibility of loading `EuiIconTip`s.
diff --git a/src/components/icon/icon.test.tsx b/src/components/icon/icon.test.tsx
index 5080fade0fb..fb58c69822d 100644
--- a/src/components/icon/icon.test.tsx
+++ b/src/components/icon/icon.test.tsx
@@ -30,19 +30,29 @@ jest.mock('./icon', () => {
 
 beforeEach(() => clearIconComponentCache());
 
-const testIcon = (props: PropsOf<typeof EuiIcon>) => async () => {
-  act(() => {
-    render(<EuiIcon {...props} />);
-  });
-  await waitFor(
-    () => {
-      const icon = document.querySelector(`[data-icon-type=${props.type}]`);
-      expect(icon).toHaveAttribute('data-is-loaded', 'true');
-      expect(icon).toMatchSnapshot();
-    },
-    { timeout: 3000 } // CI will sometimes time out if the icon doesn't load fast enough
-  );
-};
+const testIcon =
+  (
+    props: PropsOf<typeof EuiIcon>,
+    assertion?: (icon: Element | null) => void
+  ) =>
+  async () => {
+    act(() => {
+      render(<EuiIcon {...props} />);
+    });
+    await waitFor(
+      () => {
+        const icon = document.querySelector(`[data-icon-type=${props.type}]`);
+        expect(icon).toHaveAttribute('data-is-loaded', 'true');
+
+        if (assertion) {
+          assertion(icon);
+        } else {
+          expect(icon).toMatchSnapshot();
+        }
+      },
+      { timeout: 3000 } // CI will sometimes time out if the icon doesn't load fast enough
+    );
+  };
 
 describe('EuiIcon', () => {
   test('is rendered', testIcon({ type: 'search', ...requiredProps }));
@@ -130,6 +140,35 @@ describe('EuiIcon', () => {
         testIcon({ type: 'search', tabIndex: 0 })
       );
     });
+
+    describe('aria-hidden', () => {
+      it(
+        'enforces aria-hidden if no title or label has been passed',
+        testIcon({ type: 'empty', 'aria-hidden': false }, (icon) => {
+          expect(icon).toHaveAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
+        })
+      );
+
+      it(
+        'does not set aria-hidden if a title/label is passed',
+        testIcon(
+          { type: 'empty', title: 'Anything', 'aria-label': 'Anything' },
+          (icon) => {
+            expect(icon).not.toHaveAttribute('aria-hidden');
+          }
+        )
+      );
+
+      it(
+        'allows consumers to override aria-hidden even if a title/label exists',
+        testIcon(
+          { type: 'empty', title: 'Anything', 'aria-hidden': true },
+          (icon) => {
+            expect(icon).toHaveAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
+          }
+        )
+      );
+    });
   });
 
   it('renders custom components', () => {
diff --git a/src/components/icon/icon.tsx b/src/components/icon/icon.tsx
index a8569a461f8..3f33450ec1e 100644
--- a/src/components/icon/icon.tsx
+++ b/src/components/icon/icon.tsx
@@ -296,14 +296,12 @@ export class EuiIconClass extends PureComponent<
     } else {
       const Svg = icon;
 
-      // If it's an empty icon, or if there is no aria-label, aria-labelledby, or title it gets aria-hidden true
-      const isAriaHidden =
-        icon === empty ||
-        !(
-          this.props['aria-label'] ||
-          this.props['aria-labelledby'] ||
-          this.props.title
-        );
+      // If there is no aria-label, aria-labelledby, or title it gets aria-hidden true
+      const isAriaHidden = !(
+        this.props['aria-label'] ||
+        this.props['aria-labelledby'] ||
+        this.props.title
+      );
 
       // If no aria-label or aria-labelledby is provided but there's a title, a titleId is generated
       //  The svg aria-labelledby attribute gets this titleId
@@ -326,7 +324,7 @@ export class EuiIconClass extends PureComponent<
           data-is-loaded={isLoaded || undefined}
           data-is-loading={isLoading || undefined}
           {...rest}
-          aria-hidden={isAriaHidden || undefined}
+          aria-hidden={isAriaHidden || rest['aria-hidden']}
         />
       );
     }
diff --git a/src/components/tool_tip/icon_tip.tsx b/src/components/tool_tip/icon_tip.tsx
index 1493357372b..b8fcd876e6a 100644
--- a/src/components/tool_tip/icon_tip.tsx
+++ b/src/components/tool_tip/icon_tip.tsx
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import React, { FunctionComponent } from 'react';
 
 import { PropsOf } from '../common';
+import { useEuiI18n } from '../i18n';
 import { EuiIcon, IconSize, IconType } from '../icon';
 import { EuiToolTip, EuiToolTipProps } from './tool_tip';
 
@@ -53,22 +54,26 @@ type Props = Omit<EuiToolTipProps, 'children' | 'delay' | 'position'> &
 
 export const EuiIconTip: FunctionComponent<Props> = ({
   type = 'questionInCircle',
-  'aria-label': ariaLabel = 'Info',
+  'aria-label': ariaLabel,
   color,
   size,
   iconProps,
   position = 'top',
   delay = 'regular',
   ...rest
-}) => (
-  <EuiToolTip position={position} delay={delay} {...rest}>
-    <EuiIcon
-      tabIndex={0}
-      type={type}
-      color={color}
-      size={size}
-      aria-label={ariaLabel}
-      {...iconProps}
-    />
-  </EuiToolTip>
-);
+}) => {
+  const defaultAriaLabel = useEuiI18n('euiIconTip.defaultAriaLabel', 'Info');
+
+  return (
+    <EuiToolTip position={position} delay={delay} {...rest}>
+      <EuiIcon
+        tabIndex={0}
+        type={type}
+        color={color}
+        size={size}
+        aria-label={ariaLabel || defaultAriaLabel}
+        {...iconProps}
+      />
+    </EuiToolTip>
+  );
+};