diff --git a/src/converse-chatview.js b/src/converse-chatview.js
index e826dcbd8..4a193d488 100644
--- a/src/converse-chatview.js
+++ b/src/converse-chatview.js
@@ -249,6 +249,7 @@
                 render () {
                     this.el.innerHTML = tpl_chatbox_head(
                         _.extend(this.model.toJSON(), {
+                            '_converse': _converse,
                             'avatar_width': _converse.chatview_avatar_width,
                             'avatar_height': _converse.chatview_avatar_height,
                             'info_close': __('Close this chat box'),
diff --git a/src/converse-core.js b/src/converse-core.js
index 526265350..efc3925c4 100644
--- a/src/converse-core.js
+++ b/src/converse-core.js
@@ -878,9 +878,10 @@
             },
 
             initialize (attributes) {
-                const { jid } = attributes;
-                const bare_jid = Strophe.getBareJidFromJid(jid).toLowerCase();
-                const resource = Strophe.getResourceFromJid(jid);
+                const { jid } = attributes,
+                      bare_jid = Strophe.getBareJidFromJid(jid).toLowerCase(),
+                      resource = Strophe.getResourceFromJid(jid);
+
                 attributes.jid = bare_jid;
                 this.set(_.assignIn({
                     'fullname': bare_jid,
diff --git a/src/templates/chatbox_head.html b/src/templates/chatbox_head.html
index 8db254a65..42728dcdf 100644
--- a/src/templates/chatbox_head.html
+++ b/src/templates/chatbox_head.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
         <img alt="User Avatar"
             class="avatar"
             height="{{{o.avatar_height}}}px" width="{{{o.avatar_width}}}px"
-            src="data:{{{o.image_type}}};base64,{{{o.image}}}"/>
+            src="data:{{{o.image_type || o._converse.DEFAULT_IMAGE_TYPE}}};base64,{{{o.image || o._converse.DEFAULT_IMAGE}}}"/>
     {[ } ]}
     <div class="chat-title">
         {[ if (o.url) { ]}