diff --git a/src/avatar.ts b/src/avatar.ts
index be57ababb193fdac1d7669858583071039af01d9..796aa3a1005d76006acf7516f8e7321a49a8ebee 100644
--- a/src/avatar.ts
+++ b/src/avatar.ts
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ export async function avatarHandler(ctx: KoaContext) {
     }
 
     // otherwise, fall back to reading from `json_metadata`
-    if (!metadata) {
+    if (!metadata || !metadata.profile) {
       try {
         metadata = JSON.parse(account.json_metadata)
       } catch (error) {