diff --git a/passbook/core/templates/base/page.html b/passbook/core/templates/base/page.html
index 6bb61d962d..ebcee481a1 100644
--- a/passbook/core/templates/base/page.html
+++ b/passbook/core/templates/base/page.html
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
                     {{ user.username }}
                 </a>
             </div>
-            <img class="pf-c-avatar" src="{% gravatar user.email %}" alt="">
+            <img class="pf-c-avatar" src="{% avatar user %}" alt="">
         </div>
     </header>
     {% block page_content %}
diff --git a/passbook/core/templates/login/form_with_user.html b/passbook/core/templates/login/form_with_user.html
index dfe6213a2f..da9defe352 100644
--- a/passbook/core/templates/login/form_with_user.html
+++ b/passbook/core/templates/login/form_with_user.html
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 <div class="pf-c-form__group">
     <div class="form-control-static">
         <div class="left">
-            <img class="pf-c-avatar" src="{% gravatar user.email %}" alt="">
+            <img class="pf-c-avatar" src="{% avatar user %}" alt="">
             {{ user.username }}
         </div>
         <div class="right">
diff --git a/passbook/lib/default.yml b/passbook/lib/default.yml
index eb2e61bf3b..5d911a6515 100644
--- a/passbook/lib/default.yml
+++ b/passbook/lib/default.yml
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ error_reporting:
   send_pii: false
 
 passbook:
+  avatars: gravatar  # gravatar or none
   branding:
     title: passbook
     title_show: true
diff --git a/passbook/lib/templatetags/passbook_utils.py b/passbook/lib/templatetags/passbook_utils.py
index 3cda3388a0..d64482b0f4 100644
--- a/passbook/lib/templatetags/passbook_utils.py
+++ b/passbook/lib/templatetags/passbook_utils.py
@@ -6,15 +6,19 @@ from django import template
 from django.db.models import Model
 from django.http.request import HttpRequest
 from django.template import Context
+from django.templatetags.static import static
 from django.utils.html import escape, mark_safe
 from structlog import get_logger
 
+from passbook.core.models import User
 from passbook.lib.config import CONFIG
 from passbook.lib.utils.urls import is_url_absolute
 
 register = template.Library()
 LOGGER = get_logger()
 
+GRAVATAR_URL = "https://secure.gravatar.com"
+
 
 @register.simple_tag(takes_context=True)
 def back(context: Context) -> str:
@@ -54,37 +58,23 @@ def css_class(field, css):
 
 
 @register.simple_tag
-def gravatar(email, size=None, rating=None):
-    """
-    Generates a Gravatar URL for the given email address.
-
-    Syntax::
-
-        {% gravatar <email> [size] [rating] %}
-
-    Example::
-
-        {% gravatar someone@example.com 48 pg %}
-    """
-    # gravatar uses md5 for their URLs, so md5 can't be avoided
-    gravatar_url = "%savatar/%s" % (
-        "https://secure.gravatar.com/",
-        md5(email.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest(),  # nosec
-    )
-
-    parameters = [
-        p
-        for p in (
-            ("s", size or "158"),
-            ("r", rating or "g"),
+def avatar(user: User) -> str:
+    """Get avatar, depending on passbook.avatar setting"""
+    mode = CONFIG.raw.get("passbook").get("avatars")
+    if mode == "none":
+        return static("passbook/user-default.png")
+    if mode == "gravatar":
+        parameters = [
+            ("s", "158"),
+            ("r", "g"),
+        ]
+        # gravatar uses md5 for their URLs, so md5 can't be avoided
+        mail_hash = md5(user.email.encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()  # nosec
+        gravatar_url = (
+            f"{GRAVATAR_URL}/avatar/{mail_hash}?{urlencode(parameters, doseq=True)}"
         )
-        if p[1]
-    ]
-
-    if parameters:
-        gravatar_url += "?" + urlencode(parameters, doseq=True)
-
-    return escape(gravatar_url)
+        return escape(gravatar_url)
+    raise ValueError(f"Invalid avatar mode {mode}")
 
 
 @register.filter
diff --git a/passbook/root/test_runner.py b/passbook/root/test_runner.py
index 17d4bbf076..6e9e5db605 100644
--- a/passbook/root/test_runner.py
+++ b/passbook/root/test_runner.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """Integrate ./manage.py test with pytest"""
 from django.conf import settings
 
+from passbook.lib.config import CONFIG
+
 
 class PytestTestRunner:
     """Runs pytest to discover and run tests."""
@@ -11,6 +13,7 @@ class PytestTestRunner:
         self.keepdb = keepdb
         settings.TEST = True
         settings.CELERY_TASK_ALWAYS_EAGER = True
+        CONFIG.raw.get("passbook")["avatars"] = "none"
 
     def run_tests(self, test_labels):
         """Run pytest and return the exitcode.
diff --git a/passbook/static/static/passbook/user-default.png b/passbook/static/static/passbook/user-default.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9da19eacad
Binary files /dev/null and b/passbook/static/static/passbook/user-default.png differ