diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/utilities.js b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/utilities.js
index 980ea245b85..eb9a55cd311 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/utilities.js
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/lib/utilities.js
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ export function avatarImg(options, customGetURL) {
     title = ` title='${escaped}' aria-label='${escaped}'`;
   }
 
-  return `<img alt='' width='${size}' height='${size}' src='${path}' class='${classes}'${title}>`;
+  return `<img loading='lazy' alt='' width='${size}' height='${size}' src='${path}' class='${classes}'${title}>`;
 }
 
 export function tinyAvatar(avatarTemplate, options) {