Super weird hand-off Sunday when ES went up to accept her award for Best Actress -- Michelle and a bunch of other previous Best Actress winners from years past were onstage as well ... and MY was the one holding the statuette to give to Emma.

As Emma went to receive it from her ... Michelle held onto it, and tried passing it to Jennifer Lawrence before giving it to Emma -- who was standing right next to her ... and clearly not ready to help in the exchange. Like we said ... very weird, and Emma was taken aback.

Unfortunately, for Emma ... the whole thing ended up making her look bad, as some took this as her being rude to Michelle, and a handful of people accused her of her racial bias.

Now, Michelle's clearing the air (sorta) with an explanation. She wrote on IG, "Congratulations Emma!! I confused you , but I wanted to share that glorious moment of handing over Oscar to you together with your best friend Jennifer!!"

Michelle added, "She reminded me of my Bae Jamie Lee Curtis ♥️✨ always there for each other!!" We're not sure that really answers the question of what happened, but there ya go.

In any case, Emma didn't let the little mishap put a damper on things ... she gracefully accepted her award and gave a moving speech, where she seemed shocked she'd won. Afterward, she hit the town with everyone else and celebrated the honor at some after-parties.

As for her and Michelle ... seems like they're all good now, sharing hugs right afterward.