diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4306843d..2f024699 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 *.swp
 *.graffle
 .idea
+*.iml
 
 # Useful files which should never be committed
 src/configs/override.ini
diff --git a/src/configs/defaults.ini b/src/configs/defaults.ini
index e3a8c302..fc324951 100644
--- a/src/configs/defaults.ini
+++ b/src/configs/defaults.ini
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ assetProtocol=""
 displaySignupLink=""
 displaySignupUrl=""
 enableBetaFeatures="0"
+useGravatar=1
 
 [secrets]
 passwordSalt="salt_for_passwords"
diff --git a/src/configs/openphoto-vhost.conf b/src/configs/openphoto-vhost.conf
index 2f296d36..b6e04989 100644
--- a/src/configs/openphoto-vhost.conf
+++ b/src/configs/openphoto-vhost.conf
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
     AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
     AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
     AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
+    AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
     BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
     BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4\.0[678] no-gzip
     BrowserMatch \bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
diff --git a/src/libraries/models/User.php b/src/libraries/models/User.php
index 4e0d617f..ecbd2e37 100644
--- a/src/libraries/models/User.php
+++ b/src/libraries/models/User.php
@@ -101,10 +101,6 @@ class User extends BaseModel
     if(empty($email))
       return;
 
-    $user = $this->getUserByEmail($email);
-    if(isset($user['attrprofilePhoto']) && !empty($user['attrprofilePhoto']))
-      return $user['attrprofilePhoto'];
-
     $utilityObj = new Utility;
     $protocol = $utilityObj->getProtocol(false);
     if(empty($this->config->site->cdnPrefix))
@@ -117,6 +113,14 @@ class User extends BaseModel
 
     $defaultUrl = sprintf('%s%s', $hostAndProtocol, $this->themeObj->asset('image', 'profile-default.png', false));
 
+    $user = $this->getUserByEmail($email);
+    if(isset($user['attrprofilePhoto']) && !empty($user['attrprofilePhoto']))
+      return $user['attrprofilePhoto'];
+
+    // if gravatar support is disabled and no profile photo exists then we immediately return the default url
+    if ($this->config->site->useGravatar == 0)
+      return $defaultUrl;
+
     if($protocol === 'https')
       $gravatarUrl = 'https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/';
     else
diff --git a/src/tests/libraries/models/UserTest.php b/src/tests/libraries/models/UserTest.php
index b4441ca3..798d00e8 100644
--- a/src/tests/libraries/models/UserTest.php
+++ b/src/tests/libraries/models/UserTest.php
@@ -19,7 +19,15 @@ class UserTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     $db->expects($this->any())
       ->method('getUser')
       ->will($this->returnValue(array('id' => 'test@example.com', 'lastPhotoId' => 'abc', 'attrprofilePhoto' => 'http://foo/bar')));
+    $themeObj = $this->getMock('ThemeObj', array('asset'));
+    $themeObj->expects($this->any())
+      ->method('asset')
+      ->will($this->returnValue('/path/to/asset'));
     $this->user->inject('db', $db);
+    $this->user->inject('themeObj', $themeObj);
+
+    $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] = 'foo';
+
     $res = $this->user->getAvatarFromEmail(50, 'test@example.com');
     $this->assertEquals('http://foo/bar', $res);
   }
@@ -34,8 +42,13 @@ class UserTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     $themeObj->expects($this->any())
       ->method('asset')
       ->will($this->returnValue('/path/to/asset'));
+    $config = new stdClass;
+    $config->site = new stdClass;
+    $config->site->useGravatar = 1;
+
     $this->user->inject('themeObj', $themeObj);
     $this->user->inject('db', $db);
+    $this->user->inject('config', $config);
 
     $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] = 'foo';
 
@@ -43,6 +56,30 @@ class UserTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
     $this->assertEquals('http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/55502f40dc8b7c769880b10874abc9d0?s=50&d=http%3A%2F%2Ffoo%2Fpath%2Fto%2Fasset', $res);
   }
 
+  public function testGetAvatarFromEmailNoGravatar()
+  {
+    $db = $this->getMock('Db', array('getUser', 'postUser', 'putUser'));
+    $db->expects($this->any())
+      ->method('getUser')
+      ->will($this->returnValue(array('id' => 'test@example.com', 'lastPhotoId' => 'abc')));
+    $themeObj = $this->getMock('ThemeObj', array('asset'));
+    $themeObj->expects($this->any())
+      ->method('asset')
+      ->will($this->returnValue('/path/to/asset'));
+    $config = new stdClass;
+    $config->site = new stdClass;
+    $config->site->useGravatar = 0;
+
+    $this->user->inject('themeObj', $themeObj);
+    $this->user->inject('db', $db);
+    $this->user->inject('config', $config);
+
+    $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] = 'foo';
+
+    $res = $this->user->getAvatarFromEmail(50, 'test@example.com');
+    $this->assertEquals('http://foo/path/to/asset', $res);
+  }
+
   public function testGetEmailAddressNonOAuth()
   {
     $session = $this->getMock('session', array('get'));