diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py b/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
@@ -692,10 +692,11 @@ HasRepoPermissionAny, HasRepoPermissionA
 #==============================================================================
 
 def gravatar_url(email_address, size=30):
-    if(config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar')):
-        if(str2bool(config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar_hash'))):
-            email_address = hashlib.md5(email_address.lower()).hexdigest()
-        return "%s/%s?s=%s" % (config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar').strip('/'), email_address, size)
+    if(str2bool(config['app_conf'].get('use_gravatar')) and
+       config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar_url')):
+        return config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar_url') % {'email': email_address,
+                                                                     'md5email': hashlib.md5(email_address.lower()).hexdigest(),
+                                                                     'size': size}
     if (not str2bool(config['app_conf'].get('use_gravatar')) or
         not email_address or email_address == 'anonymous@rhodecode.org'):
         f = lambda a, l: min(l, key=lambda x: abs(x - a))