diff --git src/bp-core/bp-core-avatars.php src/bp-core/bp-core-avatars.php
index 68365a7a7..b790012da 100644
--- src/bp-core/bp-core-avatars.php
+++ src/bp-core/bp-core-avatars.php
@@ -1371,6 +1371,10 @@ add_action( 'wp_ajax_bp_avatar_set', 'bp_avatar_ajax_set' );
 function bp_core_get_avatar_data_url_filter( $retval, $id_or_email, $args ) {
 	$user = null;
 
+	if ( has_filter( 'pre_option_show_avatars', '__return_true', 100 ) ) {
+		return $retval;
+	}
+
 	// Ugh, hate duplicating code; process the user identifier.
 	if ( is_numeric( $id_or_email ) ) {
 		$user = get_user_by( 'id', absint( $id_or_email ) );