diff --git a/src/data_providers/items/mr_item_model.ts b/src/data_providers/items/mr_item_model.ts
index ed272c7d23fc202098de344db9d58135fd1ff345..80eb6413b7b4a09a025a9e9891539d558f7404f7 100644
--- a/src/data_providers/items/mr_item_model.ts
+++ b/src/data_providers/items/mr_item_model.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,9 @@ export class MrItemModel extends ItemModel {
       `!${iid} · ${title}`,
       vscode.TreeItemCollapsibleState.Collapsed,
     );
-    item.iconPath = vscode.Uri.parse(author.avatar_url);
+    if (author.avatar_url) {
+      item.iconPath = vscode.Uri.parse(author.avatar_url);
+    }
     return item;
   }
 
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ export class MrItemModel extends ItemModel {
         mode: vscode.CommentMode.Preview,
         author: {
           name: author.name,
-          iconPath: vscode.Uri.parse(author.avatarUrl),
+          iconPath: author.avatarUrl !== null ? vscode.Uri.parse(author.avatarUrl) : undefined,
         },
       }));
       const position = notes.nodes[0]?.position as GqlPosition; // we filtered out all discussions without position
diff --git a/src/gitlab/gitlab_new_service.ts b/src/gitlab/gitlab_new_service.ts
index 126069bbfc201c380cd6ff002d55ccbb17359d61..6a30c07e9f1b567b2a639819d3c99dd2cb023c18 100644
--- a/src/gitlab/gitlab_new_service.ts
+++ b/src/gitlab/gitlab_new_service.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import * as assert from 'assert';
 import { tokenService } from '../services/token_service';
 import { FetchError } from '../errors/fetch_error';
 import { getUserAgentHeader } from '../utils/get_user_agent_header';
-import { getAvatarUrl } from '../utils/get_avatar_url';
+import { ensureAbsoluteAvatarUrl } from '../utils/ensure_absolute_avatar_url';
 import { getHttpAgentOptions } from '../utils/get_http_agent_options';
 import { GitLabProject, GqlProject } from './gitlab_project';
 import { getRestIdFromGraphQLId } from '../utils/get_rest_id_from_graphql_id';
@@ -43,15 +43,15 @@ export interface GqlBlob {
   path: string;
 }
 
-interface GqlNoteAuthor {
-  avatarUrl: string;
+interface GqlUser {
+  avatarUrl: string | null;
   name: string;
   username: string;
   webUrl: string;
 }
 interface GqlNote {
   id: string;
-  author: GqlNoteAuthor;
+  author: GqlUser;
   createdAt: string;
   system: boolean;
   body: string; // TODO: remove this once the SystemNote.vue doesn't require plain text body
@@ -335,7 +335,8 @@ export class GitLabNewService {
       bodyHtml: note.bodyHtml.replace(/href="\//, `href="${this.instanceUrl}/`),
       author: {
         ...note.author,
-        avatarUrl: getAvatarUrl(this.instanceUrl, note.author.avatarUrl),
+        avatarUrl:
+          note.author.avatarUrl && ensureAbsoluteAvatarUrl(this.instanceUrl, note.author.avatarUrl),
       },
     });
     return {
diff --git a/src/gitlab_service.ts b/src/gitlab_service.ts
index c1ad4596a10ae22b92513aae89f5ab03dc6cbff0..7a0e66d200fbbc5ee53c0af61361282ff6994376 100644
--- a/src/gitlab_service.ts
+++ b/src/gitlab_service.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { handleError, logError } from './log';
 import { getUserAgentHeader } from './utils/get_user_agent_header';
 import { CustomQueryType } from './gitlab/custom_query_type';
 import { CustomQuery } from './gitlab/custom_query';
-import { getAvatarUrl } from './utils/get_avatar_url';
+import { ensureAbsoluteAvatarUrl } from './utils/ensure_absolute_avatar_url';
 import { getHttpAgentOptions } from './utils/get_http_agent_options';
 import { getInstanceUrl as getInstanceUrlUtil } from './utils/get_instance_url';
 import { GitLabProject } from './gitlab/gitlab_project';
@@ -27,13 +27,19 @@ interface GitLabJob {
   created_at: string;
 }
 
-const normalizeAvatarUrl = (instanceUrl: string) => (issuable: RestIssuable): RestIssuable => ({
-  ...issuable,
-  author: {
-    ...issuable.author,
-    avatar_url: getAvatarUrl(instanceUrl, issuable.author.avatar_url),
-  },
-});
+const normalizeAvatarUrl = (instanceUrl: string) => (issuable: RestIssuable): RestIssuable => {
+  const { author } = issuable;
+  if (!author.avatar_url) {
+    return issuable;
+  }
+  return {
+    ...issuable,
+    author: {
+      ...author,
+      avatar_url: ensureAbsoluteAvatarUrl(instanceUrl, author.avatar_url),
+    },
+  };
+};
 
 const projectCache: Record<string, GitLabProject> = {};
 let versionCache: string | null = null;
diff --git a/src/types.d.ts b/src/types.d.ts
index 8ee42097a4f0a5c6b4f64360de118f23b54dab5f..9f5e19d177cef087e20cdc71bf2e5cc6b0ebc5c3 100644
--- a/src/types.d.ts
+++ b/src/types.d.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ interface RestIssuable {
   title: string;
   project_id: number;
   web_url: string;
-  author: { name: string; avatar_url: string };
+  author: { name: string; avatar_url: string | null };
   sha?: string; // only present in MR, legacy logic uses the presence to decide issuable type
   references: {
     full: string; // e.g. "gitlab-org/gitlab#219925"
diff --git a/src/utils/get_avatar_url.ts b/src/utils/ensure_absolute_avatar_url.ts
similarity index 66%
rename from src/utils/get_avatar_url.ts
rename to src/utils/ensure_absolute_avatar_url.ts
index f55835f33aa7ee808ad9085fd02af135bf6e66c4..414aa51e96643377f220de083bb3dc9c56437c93 100644
--- a/src/utils/get_avatar_url.ts
+++ b/src/utils/ensure_absolute_avatar_url.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 
-export const getAvatarUrl = (instanceUrl: string, avatarUrl: string): string => {
+export const ensureAbsoluteAvatarUrl = (instanceUrl: string, avatarUrl: string): string => {
   if (!avatarUrl.startsWith('/')) {
     return avatarUrl;
   }