diff --git a/lib/src/services/api/client2client/contact.c2c.dart b/lib/src/services/api/client2client/contact.c2c.dart
index 217b745..3f7c0b7 100644
--- a/lib/src/services/api/client2client/contact.c2c.dart
+++ b/lib/src/services/api/client2client/contact.c2c.dart
@@ -124,14 +124,15 @@ Future<void> handleContactUpdate(
         await twonlyDB.contactsDao.updateContact(
           fromUserId,
           ContactsCompanion(
-            avatarSvgCompressed:
-                Value(Uint8List.fromList(contactUpdate.avatarSvgCompressed)),
+            avatarSvgCompressed: Value(
+              Uint8List.fromList(contactUpdate.avatarSvgCompressed),
+            ),
             displayName: Value(contactUpdate.displayName),
             username: Value(contactUpdate.username),
             senderProfileCounter: Value(senderProfileCounter),
           ),
         );
-        unawaited(createPushAvatars());
+        unawaited(createPushAvatars(forceForUserId: fromUserId));
       }
   }
 }
diff --git a/lib/src/utils/avatars.dart b/lib/src/utils/avatars.dart
index 08a903e..d1fcd69 100644
--- a/lib/src/utils/avatars.dart
+++ b/lib/src/utils/avatars.dart
@@ -6,12 +6,21 @@ import 'package:flutter_svg/svg.dart';
 import 'package:twonly/globals.dart';
 import 'package:twonly/src/utils/misc.dart';
 
-Future<void> createPushAvatars() async {
+Future<void> createPushAvatars({int? forceForUserId}) async {
   final contacts = await twonlyDB.contactsDao.getAllContacts();
 
   for (final contact in contacts) {
     if (contact.avatarSvgCompressed == null) continue;
 
+    if (forceForUserId == null) {
+      if (avatarPNGFile(contact.userId).existsSync()) {
+        continue; // only create the avatar in case no avatar exists yet fot this user
+      }
+    } else if (contact.userId != forceForUserId) {
+      // only update the avatar for this specified contact
+      continue;
+    }
+
     final avatarSvg = getAvatarSvg(contact.avatarSvgCompressed!);
 
     final pictureInfo = await vg.loadPicture(SvgStringLoader(avatarSvg), null);
@@ -27,8 +36,9 @@ Future<void> createPushAvatars() async {
 }
 
 File avatarPNGFile(int contactId) {
-  final avatarsDirectory =
-      Directory('$globalApplicationCacheDirectory/avatars');
+  final avatarsDirectory = Directory(
+    '$globalApplicationCacheDirectory/avatars',
+  );
 
   if (!avatarsDirectory.existsSync()) {
     avatarsDirectory.createSync(recursive: true);
@@ -42,8 +52,10 @@ Future<Uint8List> getUserAvatar() async {
     return data.buffer.asUint8List();
   }
 
-  final pictureInfo =
-      await vg.loadPicture(SvgStringLoader(gUser.avatarSvg!), null);
+  final pictureInfo = await vg.loadPicture(
+    SvgStringLoader(gUser.avatarSvg!),
+    null,
+  );
 
   final image = await pictureInfo.picture.toImage(270, 300);