diff --git a/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb b/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb
index dd852a68682dff72b591850c73b4e4f43155b662..af9b8a0124843e424e70bc51c7db4d2a3da25c8d 100644
--- a/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 module AvatarsHelper
+  DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH = 'no_avatar.png'
+
   def project_icon(project, options = {})
     source_icon(project, options)
   end
@@ -34,11 +36,11 @@ def avatar_icon_for_email(email = nil, size = nil, scale = 2, only_path: true)
   end
 
   def avatar_icon_for_user(user = nil, size = nil, scale = 2, only_path: true)
-    if user
-      user.avatar_url(size: size, only_path: only_path) || default_avatar
-    else
-      gravatar_icon(nil, size, scale)
-    end
+    return gravatar_icon(nil, size, scale) unless user
+    return default_avatar if blocked_or_unconfirmed?(user) && !can_admin?(current_user)
+
+    user_avatar = user.avatar_url(size: size, only_path: only_path)
+    user_avatar || default_avatar
   end
 
   def gravatar_icon(user_email = '', size = nil, scale = 2)
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ def gravatar_icon(user_email = '', size = nil, scale = 2)
   end
 
   def default_avatar
-    ActionController::Base.helpers.image_path('no_avatar.png')
+    ActionController::Base.helpers.image_path(DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH)
   end
 
   def author_avatar(commit_or_event, options = {})
@@ -157,4 +159,14 @@ def source_identicon(source, options = {})
       source.name[0, 1].upcase
     end
   end
+
+  def blocked_or_unconfirmed?(user)
+    user.blocked? || !user.confirmed?
+  end
+
+  def can_admin?(user)
+    return false unless user
+
+    user.can_admin_all_resources?
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/features/users/show_spec.rb b/spec/features/users/show_spec.rb
index 8edbf639c81bda7cafaddef080bd39bd89a7eafd..4d984e15b41a96ddf7bb9fe7d4f082ac2600050d 100644
--- a/spec/features/users/show_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/users/show_spec.rb
@@ -243,6 +243,10 @@
       expect(page).to have_content("@#{user.username}")
     end
 
+    it 'shows default avatar' do
+      expect(page).to have_css('//img[data-src^="/assets/no_avatar"]')
+    end
+
     it_behaves_like 'default brand title page meta description'
   end
 
@@ -286,6 +290,10 @@
         expect(page).to have_content("This user has a private profile")
       end
 
+      it 'shows default avatar' do
+        expect(page).to have_css('//img[data-src^="/assets/no_avatar"]')
+      end
+
       it_behaves_like 'default brand title page meta description'
     end
 
diff --git a/spec/helpers/avatars_helper_spec.rb b/spec/helpers/avatars_helper_spec.rb
index 7190f2fcd4afc65132a3bb60a4850b2bf52d5d58..f1d9e13c0762f4234b8a15d399cfb7cc4c342efb 100644
--- a/spec/helpers/avatars_helper_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/helpers/avatars_helper_spec.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 RSpec.describe AvatarsHelper do
   include UploadHelpers
+  include Devise::Test::ControllerHelpers
 
   let_it_be(:user) { create(:user) }
 
@@ -145,12 +146,49 @@
 
   describe '#avatar_icon_for_user' do
     let(:user) { create(:user, avatar: File.open(uploaded_image_temp_path)) }
+    let(:helper_args) { [user] }
+
+    shared_examples 'blocked or unconfirmed user with avatar' do
+      it 'returns the default avatar' do
+        expect(helper.avatar_icon_for_user(user).to_s)
+          .to match_asset_path(described_class::DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH)
+      end
+
+      context 'when the current user is an admin', :enable_admin_mode do
+        let(:current_user) { create(:user, :admin) }
+
+        before do
+          allow(helper).to receive(:current_user).and_return(current_user)
+        end
+
+        it 'returns the user avatar' do
+          expect(helper.avatar_icon_for_user(user).to_s)
+            .to eq(user.avatar.url)
+        end
+      end
+    end
 
     context 'with a user object passed' do
       it 'returns a relative URL for the avatar' do
         expect(helper.avatar_icon_for_user(user).to_s)
           .to eq(user.avatar.url)
       end
+
+      context 'when the user is blocked' do
+        before do
+          user.block!
+        end
+
+        it_behaves_like 'blocked or unconfirmed user with avatar'
+      end
+
+      context 'when the user is unconfirmed' do
+        before do
+          user.update!(confirmed_at: nil)
+        end
+
+        it_behaves_like 'blocked or unconfirmed user with avatar'
+      end
     end
 
     context 'without a user object passed' do
@@ -171,7 +209,7 @@
       end
 
       it 'returns a generic avatar' do
-        expect(helper.gravatar_icon(user_email)).to match_asset_path('no_avatar.png')
+        expect(helper.gravatar_icon(user_email)).to match_asset_path(described_class::DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH)
       end
     end
 
@@ -181,7 +219,7 @@
       end
 
       it 'returns a generic avatar when email is blank' do
-        expect(helper.gravatar_icon('')).to match_asset_path('no_avatar.png')
+        expect(helper.gravatar_icon('')).to match_asset_path(described_class::DEFAULT_AVATAR_PATH)
       end
 
       it 'returns a valid Gravatar URL' do