diff --git a/app/controllers/user_avatars_controller.rb b/app/controllers/user_avatars_controller.rb
index 79c3715a09b..0fa0d32c701 100644
--- a/app/controllers/user_avatars_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/user_avatars_controller.rb
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class UserAvatarsController < ApplicationController
   def show_proxy_letter
     is_asset_path
 
-    if SiteSetting.external_system_avatars_url !~ /^\/letter_avatar_proxy/
+    if SiteSetting.external_system_avatars_url !~ /^\/letter(_avatar)?_proxy/
       raise Discourse::NotFound
     end
 
@@ -43,17 +43,8 @@ class UserAvatarsController < ApplicationController
     params.require(:color)
     params.require(:version)
     params.require(:size)
-
     hijack do
-      identity = LetterAvatar::Identity.new
-      identity.letter = params[:letter].to_s[0].upcase
-      identity.color = params[:color].scan(/../).map(&:hex)
-      image = LetterAvatar.generate(params[:letter].to_s, params[:size].to_i, identity: identity)
-
-      response.headers["Last-Modified"] = File.ctime(image).httpdate
-      response.headers["Content-Length"] = File.size(image).to_s
-      immutable_for(1.year)
-      send_file image, disposition: nil
+      proxy_avatar("https://avatars.discourse.org/#{params[:version]}/letter/#{params[:letter]}/#{params[:color]}/#{params[:size]}.png", Time.new('1990-01-01'))
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/config/nginx.sample.conf b/config/nginx.sample.conf
index 9c87fa31470..2fb043f1b5c 100644
--- a/config/nginx.sample.conf
+++ b/config/nginx.sample.conf
@@ -189,9 +189,9 @@ server {
     }
 
     # This big block is needed so we can selectively enable
-    # acceleration for backups and avatars
+    # acceleration for backups, avatars, sprites and so on.
     # see note about repetition above
-    location ~ ^/(svg-sprite/|letter_avatar/|user_avatar|highlight-js|stylesheets|theme-javascripts|favicon/proxied|service-worker) {
+    location ~ ^/(svg-sprite/|letter_avatar/|letter_avatar_proxy/|user_avatar|highlight-js|stylesheets|theme-javascripts|favicon/proxied|service-worker) {
       proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
       proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
       proxy_set_header X-Request-Start "t=${msec}";
@@ -214,30 +214,6 @@ server {
       break;
     }
 
-    location /letter_avatar_proxy/ {
-      # Don't send any client headers to the avatars service
-      proxy_method GET;
-      proxy_pass_request_headers off;
-      proxy_pass_request_body off;
-
-      # Don't let cookies interrupt caching, and don't pass them to the
-      # client
-      proxy_ignore_headers "Set-Cookie";
-      proxy_hide_header "Set-Cookie";
-      proxy_hide_header "X-Discourse-Username";
-      proxy_hide_header "X-Runtime";
-
-      proxy_cache one;
-      # shared in multisite
-      proxy_cache_key $request_uri;
-      proxy_cache_valid 200 7d;
-      proxy_cache_valid 404 1m;
-      proxy_set_header Connection "";
-
-      proxy_pass https://avatars.discourse.org/;
-      break;
-    }
-
     # we need buffering off for message bus
     location /message-bus/ {
       proxy_set_header X-Request-Start "t=${msec}";
diff --git a/config/routes.rb b/config/routes.rb
index eb9f3ef7d82..55a0aa8d48d 100644
--- a/config/routes.rb
+++ b/config/routes.rb
@@ -451,7 +451,6 @@ Discourse::Application.routes.draw do
   get "letter_avatar/:username/:size/:version.png" => "user_avatars#show_letter", format: false, constraints: { hostname: /[\w\.-]+/, size: /\d+/, username: RouteFormat.username }
   get "user_avatar/:hostname/:username/:size/:version.png" => "user_avatars#show", format: false, constraints: { hostname: /[\w\.-]+/, size: /\d+/, username: RouteFormat.username }
 
-  # in most production settings this is bypassed
   get "letter_avatar_proxy/:version/letter/:letter/:color/:size.png" => "user_avatars#show_proxy_letter"
 
   get "svg-sprite/:hostname/svg-:theme_ids-:version.js" => "svg_sprite#show", format: false, constraints: { hostname: /[\w\.-]+/, version: /\h{40}/, theme_ids: /([0-9]+(,[0-9]+)*)?/ }
diff --git a/config/site_settings.yml b/config/site_settings.yml
index d64c32469c9..7bdcc2ac667 100644
--- a/config/site_settings.yml
+++ b/config/site_settings.yml
@@ -1077,7 +1077,7 @@ files:
     client: true
     shadowed_by_global: true
   external_system_avatars_url:
-    default: "/letter_avatar_proxy/v2/letter/{first_letter}/{color}/{size}.png"
+    default: "/letter_avatar_proxy/v3/letter/{first_letter}/{color}/{size}.png"
     client: true
     regex: '^((https?:)?\/)?\/.+[^\/]'
     shadowed_by_global: true
diff --git a/spec/models/user_spec.rb b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
index 732e8c46275..d4e8c35638f 100644
--- a/spec/models/user_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/user_spec.rb
@@ -1147,7 +1147,7 @@ describe User do
       expect(user.small_avatar_url).to eq("//test.localhost/letter_avatar/sam/45/#{LetterAvatar.version}.png")
 
       SiteSetting.external_system_avatars_enabled = true
-      expect(user.small_avatar_url).to eq("//test.localhost/letter_avatar_proxy/v2/letter/s/5f9b8f/45.png")
+      expect(user.small_avatar_url).to eq("//test.localhost/letter_avatar_proxy/v3/letter/s/5f9b8f/45.png")
     end
 
   end
diff --git a/spec/requests/user_avatars_controller_spec.rb b/spec/requests/user_avatars_controller_spec.rb
index 030959c7481..d244ead5045 100644
--- a/spec/requests/user_avatars_controller_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/user_avatars_controller_spec.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ describe UserAvatarsController do
     end
 
     it 'returns an avatar if we are allowing the proxy' do
-      get "/letter_avatar_proxy/v2/letter/a/aaaaaa/360.png"
+      stub_request(:get, "https://avatars.discourse.org/v3/letter/a/aaaaaa/360.png").to_return(body: 'image')
+      get "/letter_avatar_proxy/v3/letter/a/aaaaaa/360.png"
       expect(response.status).to eq(200)
     end
   end