diff --git a/twitter/twitter.php b/twitter/twitter.php
index 2f08b457b..fc49ce546 100644
--- a/twitter/twitter.php
+++ b/twitter/twitter.php
@@ -1077,7 +1077,6 @@ function twitter_user_to_contact($data)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
-	$avatar = twitter_fix_avatar($data->profile_image_url_https);
 	$baseurl = 'https://twitter.com';
 	$url = $baseurl . '/' . $data->screen_name;
 	$addr = $data->screen_name . '@twitter.com';
@@ -1092,7 +1091,7 @@ function twitter_user_to_contact($data)
 		'addr'     => $addr,
 		'location' => $data->location,
 		'about'    => $data->description,
-		'photo'    => $avatar,
+		'photo'    => twitter_fix_avatar($data->profile_image_url_https),
 	];
 
 	return $fields;
@@ -1106,6 +1105,10 @@ function twitter_fetch_contact($uid, $data, $create_user)
 		return -1;
 	}
 
+	// photo comes from twitter_user_to_contact but shouldn't be saved directly in the contact row
+	$avatar = $fields['photo'];
+	unset($fields['photo']);
+
 	// Update the public contact
 	$pcontact = DBA::selectFirst('contact', ['id'], ['uid' => 0, 'alias' => "twitter::" . $data->id_str]);
 	if (DBA::isResult($pcontact)) {
@@ -1116,7 +1119,7 @@ function twitter_fetch_contact($uid, $data, $create_user)
 
 	if (!empty($cid)) {
 		DBA::update('contact', $fields, ['id' => $cid]);
-		Contact::updateAvatar($fields['photo'], 0, $cid);
+		Contact::updateAvatar($avatar, 0, $cid);
 	}
 
 	$contact = DBA::selectFirst('contact', [], ['uid' => $uid, 'alias' => "twitter::" . $data->id_str]);
@@ -1148,7 +1151,7 @@ function twitter_fetch_contact($uid, $data, $create_user)
 
 		Group::addMember(User::getDefaultGroup($uid), $contact_id);
 
-		Contact::updateAvatar($fields['photo'], $uid, $contact_id);
+		Contact::updateAvatar($avatar, $uid, $contact_id);
 	} else {
 		if ($contact["readonly"] || $contact["blocked"]) {
 			Logger::log("twitter_fetch_contact: Contact '" . $contact["nick"] . "' is blocked or readonly.", Logger::DEBUG);
@@ -1164,7 +1167,7 @@ function twitter_fetch_contact($uid, $data, $create_user)
 			$update = true;
 		}
 
-		Contact::updateAvatar($fields['photo'], $uid, $contact['id']);
+		Contact::updateAvatar($avatar, $uid, $contact['id']);
 
 		if ($contact['name'] != $data->name) {
 			$fields['name-date'] = $fields['uri-date'] = DateTimeFormat::utcNow();