diff --git a/lib/api/v1/submission_comment.rb b/lib/api/v1/submission_comment.rb
index 4c41b234b8b..6fe302c8e2a 100644
--- a/lib/api/v1/submission_comment.rb
+++ b/lib/api/v1/submission_comment.rb
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ module Api::V1::SubmissionComment
     if submission_comment.grants_right?(@current_user, :read_author)
       sc_hash['author'] = user_display_json(submission_comment.author, submission_comment.context)
     else
+      if sc_hash.delete('avatar_path')
+        sc_hash['avatar_path'] = User.default_avatar_fallback
+      end
       sc_hash.merge!({
                       author: {},
                       author_id: nil,
diff --git a/spec/apis/v1/peer_reviews_api_spec.rb b/spec/apis/v1/peer_reviews_api_spec.rb
index 49daf94da17..c4a72d614d7 100644
--- a/spec/apis/v1/peer_reviews_api_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/apis/v1/peer_reviews_api_spec.rb
@@ -383,6 +383,7 @@ describe PeerReviewsApiController, type: :request do
 
 
       it 'should not include submission comments user information when anonymous peer reviews' do
+        @course.root_account.tap{|a| a.enable_service(:avatars)}.save!
         @assignment1.update_attribute(:anonymous_peer_reviews, true)
         @comment = @submission.add_comment(:author => @student2, :comment => "review comment")
         @user = @student1
@@ -393,6 +394,7 @@ describe PeerReviewsApiController, type: :request do
                                "id"=>@assessment_request.id,
                                "submission_comments" => [{"author_id"=>nil,
                                                           "author_name"=>"Anonymous User",
+                                                          'avatar_path' => User.default_avatar_fallback,
                                                           "comment"=>"review comment",
                                                           "created_at"=>@comment.created_at.as_json,
                                                           "id"=>@comment.id,