diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index eecbc5b..6ba40eb 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ module ApplicationHelper
   # +user+ can be a User or a string that will be scanned for an email address (eg. 'joe <joe@foo.bar>')
   def avatar(user, options = { })
     if Setting.gravatar_enabled?
-      options.merge!({:ssl => Setting.protocol == 'https', :default => Setting.gravatar_default})
+      options.merge!({:ssl => (defined?(request) && request.ssl?), :default => Setting.gravatar_default})
       email = nil
       if user.respond_to?(:mail)
         email = user.mail