diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 1886b1f..d15cbb0 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -159,6 +159,25 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
     @display_name ||= ldap_entry[:display_name]
   end
 
+  def avatar
+    @avatar ||= LdapManager::FetchAvatar.call(cn: cn)
+  end
+
+  def avatar_base64
+    @avatar_base64 ||= begin
+      if avatar.present?
+        Rails.logger.debug { "Avatar data size: #{avatar.size}" }
+        Base64.strict_encode64(avatar)
+      else
+        Rails.logger.error { "Avatar data is empty or nil" }
+        return nil
+      end
+    rescue StandardError => e
+      Rails.logger.error { "Failed to encode avatar: #{e.message}" }
+      nil
+    end
+  end
+
   def nostr_pubkey
     @nostr_pubkey ||= ldap_entry[:nostr_key]
   end
@@ -186,10 +205,6 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
     ZBase32.encode(Digest::SHA1.digest(cn))
   end
 
-  def avatar
-    @avatar_base64 ||= LdapManager::FetchAvatar.call(cn: cn)
-  end
-
   def services_enabled
     ldap_entry[:services_enabled] || []
   end
diff --git a/app/services/ldap_manager/fetch_avatar.rb b/app/services/ldap_manager/fetch_avatar.rb
index 11035ae..be103df 100644
--- a/app/services/ldap_manager/fetch_avatar.rb
+++ b/app/services/ldap_manager/fetch_avatar.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,33 @@ module LdapManager
       filter     = Net::LDAP::Filter.eq("cn", @cn)
 
       entry = client.search(base: treebase, filter: filter, attributes: attributes).first
-      entry.try(:jpegPhoto) ? entry.jpegPhoto.first : nil
+
+      if entry&.jpegPhoto
+        binary_data = entry.jpegPhoto.first # Use first value (binary)
+        Rails.logger.debug { "Fetched jpegPhoto size: #{binary_data.bytesize}" }
+        create_tempfile(binary_data)
+      else
+        Rails.logger.debug { "No jpegPhoto found for cn=#{@cn}, ou=#{@ou}" }
+        nil
+      end
+    end
+
+    def create_tempfile(binary_data)
+      tempfile = Tempfile.new(['image', '.jpg'])
+      tempfile.binmode
+      tempfile.write(binary_data)
+      tempfile.rewind
+
+      Rails.logger.debug { "Storing debug file for cn=#{@cn}, size=#{tempfile.size}" }
+
+      data = tempfile.read
+
+      debug_file_path = "#{Rails.root}/tmp/avatar-fetched.jpg"
+      debug_file = File.open(debug_file_path, 'wb')
+      debug_file.write(data)
+      debug_file.close
+
+      data
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/services/ldap_manager/update_avatar.rb b/app/services/ldap_manager/update_avatar.rb
index f3c8975..713211a 100644
--- a/app/services/ldap_manager/update_avatar.rb
+++ b/app/services/ldap_manager/update_avatar.rb
@@ -8,20 +8,30 @@ module LdapManager
     end
 
     def call
-      replace_attribute @dn, :jpegPhoto, @img_data
+      Rails.logger.debug { "Storing jpegPhoto for dn=#{@dn}, size=#{@img_data.bytesize}" }
+      result = replace_attribute @dn, :jpegPhoto, @img_data
+      Rails.logger.debug { "LDAP replace_attribute result: #{result}" }
+      result
     end
 
     private
 
     def process(file)
       processed = ImageProcessing::Vips
-        .resize_to_fill(512, 512)
+        .resize_to_fill(256, 256)
         .source(file)
         .convert("jpeg")
         .saver(strip: true)
         .call
 
-      Base64.strict_encode64 processed.read
+      data = processed.read
+
+      debug_file_path = "#{Rails.root}/tmp/avatar-processed.jpg"
+      debug_file = File.open(debug_file_path, 'wb')
+      debug_file.write(data)
+      debug_file.close
+
+      data
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/app/views/settings/_profile.html.erb b/app/views/settings/_profile.html.erb
index 4443e25..45ffc37 100644
--- a/app/views/settings/_profile.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/settings/_profile.html.erb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
       </button>
     </p>
     <p class="text-sm text-gray-500">
-      Your user address for Chat and Lightning Network.
+      Your account's address on the Internet
     </p>
   </div>
   <%= form_for(@user, url: setting_path(:profile), html: { :method => :put }) do |f| %>
@@ -40,9 +40,10 @@
         Default profile picture
       </p>
       <div class="flex items-center gap-6">
-        <% if current_user.avatar.present? %>
+        <% unless current_user.avatar.nil? %>
         <p class="flex-none">
-          <%= image_tag "data:image/jpeg;base64,#{current_user.avatar}", class: "h-24 w-24 rounded-lg" %>
+          <%= image_tag "data:image/jpeg;base64,#{current_user.avatar_base64}",
+                class: "h-24 w-24 rounded-lg" %>
         </p>
         <% end %>
         <div class="grow">
diff --git a/spec/features/settings/profile_spec.rb b/spec/features/settings/profile_spec.rb
index 55b861e..748213e 100644
--- a/spec/features/settings/profile_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/settings/profile_spec.rb
@@ -2,18 +2,22 @@ require 'rails_helper'
 
 RSpec.describe 'Profile settings', type: :feature do
   let(:user) { create :user, cn: "mwahlberg" }
-  let(:avatar_base64) { File.read("#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/files/avatar-base64.txt") }
+  let(:avatar_jpeg) { File.binread("#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/files/taipei.jpg") }
 
   before do
+    Flipper.enable "avatar_upload"
+
     login_as user, :scope => :user
     allow(user).to receive(:display_name).and_return("Mark")
-    allow_any_instance_of(User).to receive(:dn).and_return("cn=mwahlberg,ou=kosmos.org,cn=users,dc=kosmos,dc=org")
-    allow_any_instance_of(User).to receive(:ldap_entry).and_return({
-      uid: user.cn, ou: user.ou, display_name: "Mark", pgp_key: nil
-    })
-    allow_any_instance_of(User).to receive(:avatar).and_return(avatar_base64)
 
-    Flipper.enable "avatar_upload"
+    allow_any_instance_of(User).to receive(:dn)
+      .and_return("cn=mwahlberg,ou=kosmos.org,cn=users,dc=kosmos,dc=org")
+    allow_any_instance_of(User).to receive(:ldap_entry)
+      .and_return({
+        uid: user.cn, ou: user.ou, display_name: "Mark", pgp_key: nil
+      })
+    allow_any_instance_of(User).to receive(:avatar)
+      .and_return(avatar_jpeg)
   end
 
   feature "Update display name" do
@@ -71,7 +75,7 @@ RSpec.describe 'Profile settings', type: :feature do
       file_path = "#{Rails.root}/spec/fixtures/files/taipei.jpg"
 
       expect_any_instance_of(LdapManager::UpdateAvatar).to receive(:replace_attribute)
-        .with(user.dn, :jpegPhoto, avatar_base64).and_return(true)
+        .with(user.dn, :jpegPhoto, avatar_jpeg).and_return(true)
 
       visit setting_path(:profile)
       attach_file "Avatar", file_path