diff --git a/src/vector/platform/ElectronPlatform.js b/src/vector/platform/ElectronPlatform.js
index fcab36ac399..04f472d6455 100644
--- a/src/vector/platform/ElectronPlatform.js
+++ b/src/vector/platform/ElectronPlatform.js
@@ -141,14 +141,12 @@ export default class ElectronPlatform extends VectorBasePlatform {
         }
 
         // Notifications in Electron use the HTML5 notification API
-        const notification = new global.Notification(
-            title,
-            {
-                body: msg,
-                icon: avatarUrl,
-                silent: true, // we play our own sounds
-            },
-        );
+        const notifBody = {
+            body: msg,
+            silent: true, // we play our own sounds
+        };
+        if (avatarUrl) notifBody['icon'] = avatarUrl;
+        const notification = new global.Notification(title, notifBody);
 
         notification.onclick = () => {
             dis.dispatch({
diff --git a/src/vector/platform/WebPlatform.js b/src/vector/platform/WebPlatform.js
index d850dd6ddd5..984aa8da3ad 100644
--- a/src/vector/platform/WebPlatform.js
+++ b/src/vector/platform/WebPlatform.js
@@ -76,15 +76,13 @@ export default class WebPlatform extends VectorBasePlatform {
     }
 
     displayNotification(title: string, msg: string, avatarUrl: string, room: Object) {
-        const notification = new global.Notification(
-            title,
-            {
-                body: msg,
-                icon: avatarUrl,
-                tag: "vector",
-                silent: true, // we play our own sounds
-            },
-        );
+        const notifBody = {
+            body: msg,
+            tag: "vector",
+            silent: true, // we play our own sounds
+        };
+        if (avatarUrl) notifBody['icon'] = avatarUrl;
+        const notification = new global.Notification(title, notifBody);
 
         notification.onclick = function() {
             dis.dispatch({