diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/gitlab/gitlab-app-support.ts b/components/server/ee/src/gitlab/gitlab-app-support.ts
index d07dbb1faaa25d..a488aff3271b6e 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/gitlab/gitlab-app-support.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/gitlab/gitlab-app-support.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,20 @@ import { inject, injectable } from "inversify";
 import { TokenProvider } from "../../../src/user/token-provider";
 import { UserDB } from "@gitpod/gitpod-db/lib";
 import { Gitlab } from "@gitbeaker/node";
+import { ProjectSchemaDefault, NamespaceInfoSchemaDefault } from "@gitbeaker/core/dist/types/services/Projects";
+
+// Add missing fields to Gitbeaker's ProjectSchema type
+type ProjectSchema = ProjectSchemaDefault & {
+    last_activity_at: string;
+    namespace: NamespaceInfoSchemaDefault & {
+        avatar_url: string;
+    };
+    owner?: {
+        id: number;
+        name: string;
+        avatar_url: string;
+    };
+};
 
 @injectable()
 export class GitLabAppSupport {
@@ -38,12 +52,12 @@ export class GitLabAppSupport {
         //
         const projectsWithAccess = await api.Projects.all({ min_access_level: "40", perPage: 100 });
         for (const project of projectsWithAccess) {
-            const anyProject = project as any;
-            const path = anyProject.path as string;
-            const fullPath = anyProject.path_with_namespace as string;
-            const cloneUrl = anyProject.http_url_to_repo as string;
-            const updatedAt = anyProject.last_activity_at as string;
-            const accountAvatarUrl = anyProject.owner?.avatar_url as string;
+            const aProject = project as ProjectSchema;
+            const path = aProject.path as string;
+            const fullPath = aProject.path_with_namespace as string;
+            const cloneUrl = aProject.http_url_to_repo as string;
+            const updatedAt = aProject.last_activity_at as string;
+            const accountAvatarUrl = await this.getAccountAvatarUrl(aProject, params.provider.host);
             const account = fullPath.split("/")[0];
 
             (account === usersGitLabAccount ? ownersRepos : result).push({
@@ -61,4 +75,28 @@ export class GitLabAppSupport {
         result.unshift(...ownersRepos);
         return result;
     }
+
+    protected async getAccountAvatarUrl(project: ProjectSchema, providerHost: string): Promise<string> {
+        const owner = project.owner || project.namespace;
+        if (owner.avatar_url) {
+            const url = owner.avatar_url;
+            // Sometimes GitLab avatar URLs are relative -- ensure we always use the correct host
+            return url[0] === "/" ? `https://${providerHost}${url}` : url;
+        }
+        // If there is no avatar, generate the same default avatar that GitLab uses. Based on:
+        // - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/b2a22b6e85200ce55ab09b5c765043441b086c96/app/helpers/avatars_helper.rb#L151-161
+        // - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/blob/84b4743475246e91dc78c3f25f9b335c40be84cd/app/assets/stylesheets/startup/startup-general.scss#L1611-1631
+        // - https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/blob/84b4743475246e91dc78c3f25f9b335c40be84cd/app/assets/stylesheets/startup/startup-general.scss#L420-422
+        const text = owner.name[0].toUpperCase();
+        const backgroundColor = ["#fcf1ef", "#f4f0ff", "#f1f1ff", "#e9f3fc", "#ecf4ee", "#fdf1dd", "#f0f0f0"][
+            owner.id % 7
+        ];
+        const svg =
+            `<svg viewBox="0 0 32 32" height="32" width="32" style="background-color: ${backgroundColor}" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
+                <text x="50%" y="50%" style='font-size: 14px; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto,
+                "Noto Sans", Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif,
+                "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol", "Noto Color Emoji"'>${text}</text>
+            </svg>`.replace(/\s+/g, " ");
+        return `data:image/svg+xml,${encodeURIComponent(svg)}`;
+    }
 }