diff --git a/phpBB/develop/adjust_avatars.php b/phpBB/develop/adjust_avatars.php
index dc4ae88f37..7313967c94 100644
--- a/phpBB/develop/adjust_avatars.php
+++ b/phpBB/develop/adjust_avatars.php
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ $auth->acl($user->data);
 $user->setup();
 
 $echos = 0;
- 
+
 if (!isset($config['avatar_salt']))
 {
 	$cache->purge();
@@ -30,6 +30,11 @@ if (!isset($config['avatar_salt']))
 	die('database not up to date');
 }
 
+if (!isset($config['storage\\avatar\\config\\path']) || $config['storage\\avatar\\config\\path'] != 'phpbb\\storage\\provider\\local')
+{
+	die('use local provider');
+}
+
 // let's start with the users using a group_avatar.
 $sql = 'SELECT group_id, group_avatar
 	FROM ' . GROUPS_TABLE . '
@@ -46,16 +51,16 @@ while ($row = $db->sql_fetchrow($result))
 {
 	$new_avatar_name = adjust_avatar($row['group_avatar'], 'g' . $row['group_id']);
 	$group_avatars[] = $new_avatar_name;
-	
+
 	// failure is probably due to the avatar name already being adjusted
 	if ($new_avatar_name !== false)
 	{
 		$sql = 'UPDATE ' . USERS_TABLE . "
 			SET user_avatar = '" . $db->sql_escape($new_avatar_name) . "'
-			WHERE user_avatar = '" . $db->sql_escape($row['group_avatar']) . "' 
+			WHERE user_avatar = '" . $db->sql_escape($row['group_avatar']) . "'
 			AND user_avatar_type = " . AVATAR_UPLOAD;
 		$db->sql_query($sql);
-		
+
 		$sql = 'UPDATE ' . GROUPS_TABLE . "
 			SET group_avatar = '" . $db->sql_escape($new_avatar_name) . "'
 			WHERE group_id = {$row['group_id']}";
@@ -80,8 +85,8 @@ while ($row = $db->sql_fetchrow($result))
 $db->sql_freeresult($result);
 
 $sql = 'SELECT user_id, username, user_avatar, user_avatar_type
-	FROM ' . USERS_TABLE . ' 
-	WHERE user_avatar_type = ' . AVATAR_UPLOAD . ' 
+	FROM ' . USERS_TABLE . '
+	WHERE user_avatar_type = ' . AVATAR_UPLOAD . '
 	AND ' . $db->sql_in_set('user_avatar', $group_avatars, true, true);
 $result = $db->sql_query($sql);
 
@@ -108,7 +113,7 @@ while ($row = $db->sql_fetchrow($result))
 		$db->sql_query($sql);
 		echo '<br /> Failed updating user ' . $row['user_id'] . "\n";
 	}
-	
+
 	if ($echos > 200)
 	{
 		echo '<br />' . "\n";
@@ -131,8 +136,8 @@ $db->sql_close();
 function adjust_avatar($old_name, $midfix)
 {
 	global $config, $phpbb_root_path;
-	
-	$avatar_path = $phpbb_root_path . $config['avatar_path'];
+
+	$avatar_path = $phpbb_root_path . $config['storage\\avatar\\config\\path'];
 	$extension = strtolower(substr(strrchr($old_name, '.'), 1));
 	$new_name = $config['avatar_salt'] . '_' . $midfix . '.' . $extension;
 
diff --git a/phpBB/docs/coding-guidelines.html b/phpBB/docs/coding-guidelines.html
index 3e6919c88a..97feea71ec 100644
--- a/phpBB/docs/coding-guidelines.html
+++ b/phpBB/docs/coding-guidelines.html
@@ -264,7 +264,6 @@ PHPBB_QA                   (Set board to QA-Mode, which means the updater also c
 	<li>{T_SUPER_TEMPLATE_PATH} - styles/xxx/template</li>
 	<li>{T_IMAGES_PATH} - images/</li>
 	<li>{T_SMILIES_PATH} - $config['smilies_path']/</li>
-	<li>{T_AVATAR_PATH} - $config['avatar_path']/</li>
 	<li>{T_AVATAR_GALLERY_PATH} - $config['avatar_gallery_path']/</li>
 	<li>{T_ICONS_PATH} - $config['icons_path']/</li>
 	<li>{T_RANKS_PATH} - $config['ranks_path']/</li>
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_main.php b/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_main.php
index 4efa8c70b3..86ce84a4a1 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_main.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/acp/acp_main.php
@@ -502,26 +502,8 @@ class acp_main
 
 		$upload_dir_size = get_formatted_filesize($config['upload_dir_size']);
 
-		$avatar_dir_size = 0;
-
-		if ($avatar_dir = @opendir($phpbb_root_path . $config['avatar_path']))
-		{
-			while (($file = readdir($avatar_dir)) !== false)
-			{
-				if ($file[0] != '.' && $file != 'CVS' && strpos($file, 'index.') === false)
-				{
-					$avatar_dir_size += filesize($phpbb_root_path . $config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $file);
-				}
-			}
-			closedir($avatar_dir);
-
-			$avatar_dir_size = get_formatted_filesize($avatar_dir_size);
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			// Couldn't open Avatar dir.
-			$avatar_dir_size = $user->lang['NOT_AVAILABLE'];
-		}
+		// Couldn't open Avatar dir.
+		$avatar_dir_size = $user->lang['NOT_AVAILABLE'];
 
 		if ($posts_per_day > $total_posts)
 		{
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions.php b/phpBB/includes/functions.php
index 5bf86276c8..9f7d4f02e2 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions.php
@@ -4434,7 +4434,6 @@ function page_header($page_title = '', $display_online_list = false, $item_id =
 		'T_SUPER_TEMPLATE_PATH'	=> "{$web_path}styles/" . rawurlencode($user->style['style_path']) . '/template',
 		'T_IMAGES_PATH'			=> "{$web_path}images/",
 		'T_SMILIES_PATH'		=> "{$web_path}{$config['smilies_path']}/",
-		'T_AVATAR_PATH'			=> "{$web_path}{$config['avatar_path']}/",
 		'T_AVATAR_GALLERY_PATH'	=> "{$web_path}{$config['avatar_gallery_path']}/",
 		'T_ICONS_PATH'			=> "{$web_path}{$config['icons_path']}/",
 		'T_RANKS_PATH'			=> "{$web_path}{$config['ranks_path']}/",
@@ -4452,7 +4451,6 @@ function page_header($page_title = '', $display_online_list = false, $item_id =
 		'T_SUPER_TEMPLATE_NAME'	=> rawurlencode((isset($user->style['style_parent_tree']) && $user->style['style_parent_tree']) ? $user->style['style_parent_tree'] : $user->style['style_path']),
 		'T_IMAGES'				=> 'images',
 		'T_SMILIES'				=> $config['smilies_path'],
-		'T_AVATAR'				=> $config['avatar_path'],
 		'T_AVATAR_GALLERY'		=> $config['avatar_gallery_path'],
 		'T_ICONS'				=> $config['icons_path'],
 		'T_RANKS'				=> $config['ranks_path'],
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions_acp.php b/phpBB/includes/functions_acp.php
index c79a84f8d4..b3bde79339 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions_acp.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions_acp.php
@@ -88,7 +88,6 @@ function adm_page_header($page_title)
 
 		'T_IMAGES_PATH'			=> "{$phpbb_root_path}images/",
 		'T_SMILIES_PATH'		=> "{$phpbb_root_path}{$config['smilies_path']}/",
-		'T_AVATAR_PATH'			=> "{$phpbb_root_path}{$config['avatar_path']}/",
 		'T_AVATAR_GALLERY_PATH'	=> "{$phpbb_root_path}{$config['avatar_gallery_path']}/",
 		'T_ICONS_PATH'			=> "{$phpbb_root_path}{$config['icons_path']}/",
 		'T_RANKS_PATH'			=> "{$phpbb_root_path}{$config['ranks_path']}/",
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions_download.php b/phpBB/includes/functions_download.php
index b15b28ced8..eea64c3ab2 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions_download.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions_download.php
@@ -30,20 +30,7 @@ function send_avatar_to_browser($file, $browser)
 	$storage = $phpbb_container->get('storage.avatar');
 
 	$prefix = $config['avatar_salt'] . '_';
-	$image_dir = $config['avatar_path'];
-
-	// Adjust image_dir path (no trailing slash)
-	if (substr($image_dir, -1, 1) == '/' || substr($image_dir, -1, 1) == '\\')
-	{
-		$image_dir = substr($image_dir, 0, -1) . '/';
-	}
-	$image_dir = str_replace(array('../', '..\\', './', '.\\'), '', $image_dir);
-
-	if ($image_dir && ($image_dir[0] == '/' || $image_dir[0] == '\\'))
-	{
-		$image_dir = '';
-	}
-	$file_path = $image_dir . '/' . $prefix . $file;
+	$file_path = $prefix . $file;
 
 	if ($storage->exists($file_path) && !headers_sent())
 	{
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php b/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php
index f1e03869b4..75fb301c01 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php
@@ -2164,7 +2164,9 @@ function phpbb_style_is_active($style_id)
 */
 function avatar_delete($mode, $row, $clean_db = false)
 {
-	global $phpbb_root_path, $config;
+	global $config, $phpbb_container;
+
+	$storage = $phpbb_container->get('storage.avatar');
 
 	// Check if the users avatar is actually *not* a group avatar
 	if ($mode == 'user')
@@ -2181,13 +2183,16 @@ function avatar_delete($mode, $row, $clean_db = false)
 	}
 	$filename = get_avatar_filename($row[$mode . '_avatar']);
 
-	if (file_exists($phpbb_root_path . $config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $filename))
+	try
 	{
-		@unlink($phpbb_root_path . $config['avatar_path'] . '/' . $filename);
+		$storage->delete($filename);
+
 		return true;
 	}
-
-	return false;
+	catch (\phpbb\storage\exception\exception $e)
+	{
+		return false;
+	}
 }
 
 /**
@@ -2505,7 +2510,9 @@ function group_create(&$group_id, $type, $name, $desc, $group_attributes, $allow
 */
 function group_correct_avatar($group_id, $old_entry)
 {
-	global $config, $db, $phpbb_root_path;
+	global $config, $db, $phpbb_container;
+
+	$storage = $phpbb_container->get('storage.avatar');
 
 	$group_id		= (int) $group_id;
 	$ext 			= substr(strrchr($old_entry, '.'), 1);
@@ -2513,14 +2520,19 @@ function group_correct_avatar($group_id, $old_entry)
 	$new_filename 	= $config['avatar_salt'] . "_g$group_id.$ext";
 	$new_entry 		= 'g' . $group_id . '_' . substr(time(), -5) . ".$ext";
 
-	$avatar_path = $phpbb_root_path . $config['avatar_path'];
-	if (@rename($avatar_path . '/'. $old_filename, $avatar_path . '/' . $new_filename))
+	try
 	{
+		$this->storage->rename($old_filename, $new_filename);
+
 		$sql = 'UPDATE ' . GROUPS_TABLE . '
 			SET group_avatar = \'' . $db->sql_escape($new_entry) . "'
 			WHERE group_id = $group_id";
 		$db->sql_query($sql);
 	}
+	catch (\phpbb\storage\exception\exception $e)
+	{
+
+	}
 }
 
 
diff --git a/phpBB/install/convert/convertor.php b/phpBB/install/convert/convertor.php
index 5118651b71..619fc73275 100644
--- a/phpBB/install/convert/convertor.php
+++ b/phpBB/install/convert/convertor.php
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ class convertor
 				$bad_folders = array();
 
 				$local_paths = array(
-					'avatar_path'			=> path($config['avatar_path']),
+					'avatar_path'			=> path($config['storage\\avatar\\config\\path']),
 					'avatar_gallery_path'	=> path($config['avatar_gallery_path']),
 					'icons_path'			=> path($config['icons_path']),
 					'ranks_path'			=> path($config['ranks_path']),
diff --git a/phpBB/install/convertors/convert_phpbb20.php b/phpBB/install/convertors/convert_phpbb20.php
index d0885dc620..6476fe0f3a 100644
--- a/phpBB/install/convertors/convert_phpbb20.php
+++ b/phpBB/install/convertors/convert_phpbb20.php
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ if (!$get_info)
 	$convertor = array(
 		'test_file'				=> 'viewtopic.php',
 
-		'avatar_path'			=> get_config_value('avatar_path') . '/',
+		'avatar_path'			=> get_config_value('storage\\avatar\\config\\path') . '/',
 		'avatar_gallery_path'	=> get_config_value('avatar_gallery_path') . '/',
 		'smilies_path'			=> get_config_value('smilies_path') . '/',
 		'upload_path'			=> (defined('MOD_ATTACHMENT')) ? phpbb_get_files_dir() . '/' : '',