diff --git a/public/img/default_avatar.png b/public/img/default_avatar.png
deleted file mode 100644
index 17d6a106..00000000
Binary files a/public/img/default_avatar.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/public/img/default_avatar.svg b/public/img/default_avatar.svg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4586017b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/img/default_avatar.svg
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="no"?><!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd"><svg width="100%" height="100%" viewBox="0 0 20 20" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xml:space="preserve" xmlns:serif="http://www.serif.com/" style="fill-rule:evenodd;clip-rule:evenodd;stroke-linejoin:round;stroke-miterlimit:2;"><g id="Ebene1"><rect x="0.021" y="-0.023" width="19.977" height="20" style="fill:#95bbdf;"/></g><path d="M10,10c2.194,0 4,-1.806 4,-4c0,-2.194 -1.806,-4 -4,-4c-2.194,0 -4,1.806 -4,4c0,2.194 1.806,4 4,4Zm-1.428,1.5c-3.078,0 -5.572,2.494 -5.572,5.572c0,0.512 0.416,0.928 0.928,0.928l12.144,0c0.512,0 0.928,-0.416 0.928,-0.928c0,-3.078 -2.494,-5.572 -5.572,-5.572l-2.856,0Z" style="fill:#fff;fill-rule:nonzero;"/></svg>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Services/UserSystem/UserAvatarHelper.php b/src/Services/UserSystem/UserAvatarHelper.php
index ac289305..22690db5 100644
--- a/src/Services/UserSystem/UserAvatarHelper.php
+++ b/src/Services/UserSystem/UserAvatarHelper.php
@@ -20,9 +20,9 @@ declare(strict_types=1);
  *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
  *  along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
  */
+
 namespace App\Services\UserSystem;
 
-use Imagine\Exception\RuntimeException;
 use App\Entity\Attachments\Attachment;
 use App\Entity\Attachments\AttachmentType;
 use App\Entity\Attachments\UserAttachment;
@@ -30,16 +30,23 @@ use App\Entity\UserSystem\User;
 use App\Services\Attachments\AttachmentSubmitHandler;
 use App\Services\Attachments\AttachmentURLGenerator;
 use Doctrine\ORM\EntityManagerInterface;
-use Liip\ImagineBundle\Service\FilterService;
 use Symfony\Component\Asset\Packages;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\UploadedFile;
 
 class UserAvatarHelper
 {
-    public const IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH = '/img/default_avatar.png';
+    /**
+     * Path to the default avatar image (must not start with a slash, or the asset package will not work)
+     */
+    public const IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH = 'img/default_avatar.svg';
 
-    public function __construct(private readonly bool $use_gravatar, private readonly Packages $packages, private readonly AttachmentURLGenerator $attachmentURLGenerator, private readonly FilterService $filterService, private readonly EntityManagerInterface $entityManager, private readonly AttachmentSubmitHandler $submitHandler)
-    {
+    public function __construct(
+        private readonly bool $use_gravatar,
+        private readonly Packages $packages,
+        private readonly AttachmentURLGenerator $attachmentURLGenerator,
+        private readonly EntityManagerInterface $entityManager,
+        private readonly AttachmentSubmitHandler $submitHandler
+    ) {
     }
 
 
@@ -78,13 +85,8 @@ class UserAvatarHelper
             return $this->getGravatar($user, 50); //50px wide picture
         }
 
-        try {
-            //Otherwise we can serve the relative path via Asset component
-            return $this->filterService->getUrlOfFilteredImage(self::IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH, 'thumbnail_xs');
-        } catch (RuntimeException) {
-            //If the filter fails, we can not serve the thumbnail and fall back to the original image and log an warning
-            return $this->packages->getUrl(self::IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH);
-        }
+        //Otherwise serve the default image (its an SVG, so we dont need to thumbnail it)
+        return $this->packages->getUrl(self::IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH);
     }
 
     public function getAvatarMdURL(User $user): string
@@ -100,20 +102,15 @@ class UserAvatarHelper
             return $this->getGravatar($user, 150);
         }
 
-        try {
-            //Otherwise we can serve the relative path via Asset component
-            return $this->filterService->getUrlOfFilteredImage(self::IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH, 'thumbnail_xs');
-        } catch (RuntimeException) {
-            //If the filter fails, we can not serve the thumbnail and fall back to the original image and log an warning
-            return $this->packages->getUrl(self::IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH);
-        }
+        //Otherwise serve the default image (its an SVG, so we dont need to thumbnail it)
+        return $this->packages->getUrl(self::IMG_DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH);
     }
 
 
     /**
      * Get either a Gravatar URL or complete image tag for a specified email address.
      *
-     * @param  User $user The user for which the gravator should be generated
+     * @param  User  $user  The user for which the gravator should be generated
      * @param  int  $s  Size in pixels, defaults to 80px [ 1 - 2048 ]
      * @param  string  $d  Default imageset to use [ 404 | mm | identicon | monsterid | wavatar ]
      * @param  string  $r  Maximum rating (inclusive) [ g | pg | r | x ]
@@ -131,7 +128,7 @@ class UserAvatarHelper
         $url = 'https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/';
         $url .= md5(strtolower(trim($email)));
 
-        return $url . "?s=$s&d=$d&r=$r";
+        return $url."?s=$s&d=$d&r=$r";
     }
 
     /**