diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js
index da97ad531b0..6a234d3ed68 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse.js
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ window.Discourse = Ember.Application.createWithMixins(Discourse.Ajax, {
   getURLWithCDN: function(url) {
     url = this.getURL(url);
     // https:// and http:// and // should be skipped, only /xyz is allowed here
-    if (Discourse.CDN && url[1] !== "/") {
+    if (Discourse.CDN && /^\/[^\/]/.test(url)) {
       url = Discourse.CDN + url;
     } else if (Discourse.S3CDN) {
       url = url.replace(Discourse.S3BaseUrl, Discourse.S3CDN);
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js
index 3eff90d74b1..291e598b143 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/helpers/application_helpers.js
@@ -20,10 +20,7 @@ Em.Handlebars.helper('bound-avatar', function(user, size, uploadId) {
  * Used when we only have a template
  */
 Em.Handlebars.helper('bound-avatar-template', function(avatarTemplate, size) {
-  return new safe(Discourse.Utilities.avatarImg({
-    size: size,
-    avatarTemplate: avatarTemplate
-  }));
+  return new safe(Discourse.Utilities.avatarImg({ size: size, avatarTemplate: avatarTemplate }));
 });
 
 registerUnbound('raw-date', function(dt) {
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js
index 0cf09ffffbf..6d08ab93471 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/lib/utilities.js
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ Discourse.Utilities = {
 
     var classes = "avatar" + (options.extraClasses ? " " + options.extraClasses : "");
     var title = (options.title) ? " title='" + Handlebars.Utils.escapeExpression(options.title || "") + "'" : "";
-    return "<img alt='' width='" + size + "' height='" + size + "' src='" + url + "' class='" + classes + "'" + title + ">";
+
+    return "<img alt='' width='" + size + "' height='" + size + "' src='" + Discourse.getURLWithCDN(url) + "' class='" + classes + "'" + title + ">";
   },
 
   tinyAvatar: function(avatarTemplate, options) {