diff --git a/lib/private/Avatar/Avatar.php b/lib/private/Avatar/Avatar.php
index 02fc04eae3..a7395362ff 100644
--- a/lib/private/Avatar/Avatar.php
+++ b/lib/private/Avatar/Avatar.php
@@ -156,8 +156,9 @@ abstract class Avatar implements IAvatar {
 			$avatar->readImageBlob($svg);
 			$avatar->setImageFormat('png');
 			$image = new OC_Image();
-			$image->loadFromData($avatar);
-			return $image->data();
+			$image->loadFromData((string)$avatar);
+			$data = $image->data();
+			return $data === null ? false : $data;
 		} catch (\Exception $e) {
 			return false;
 		}