diff --git a/api/user_avatar.php b/api/user_avatar.php
index 4562fe2..bb4f07c 100644
--- a/api/user_avatar.php
+++ b/api/user_avatar.php
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ $safeUsername = ldap_escape($username, '', LDAP_ESCAPE_FILTER);
 $filter       = "(uid=$safeUsername)";
 
 $avatarData = null;
+$ldapQueryOk = false; // true only if the LDAP lookup completed without error
 
 try {
     $ldap = @ldap_connect("ldap://$ldapHost:$ldapPort");
@@ -137,20 +138,28 @@ try {
         $avatarData = $entries[0]['avatar'][0];
     }
 
+    // The query ran to completion — any "no avatar" result is authoritative.
+    $ldapQueryOk = true;
+
     ldap_unbind($ldap);
 } catch (Exception $e) {
     error_log("user_avatar: LDAP error for username=$username: " . $e->getMessage());
-    // Fall through to 404
+    // Transient LDAP failure: do NOT poison the negative cache. Fall through to
+    // a plain 404 so the avatar is retried on the next request once LDAP recovers.
 }
 
 if ($avatarData === null || strlen($avatarData) < 100) {
-    // Write sentinel so we don't hammer LDAP for users without avatars
-    file_put_contents($noAvatarSentinel, '');
+    // Only cache "no avatar" when LDAP actually answered. On an error/timeout we
+    // leave no sentinel, so the lookup is retried instead of being stuck for the TTL.
+    if ($ldapQueryOk) {
+        file_put_contents($noAvatarSentinel, '');
+    }
     http_response_code(404);
     exit;
 }
 
-// Validate it's actually a JPEG (magic bytes FF D8 FF)
+// Validate it's actually a JPEG (magic bytes FF D8 FF). A successful LDAP read of
+// non-JPEG data is a genuine "no usable avatar", so the sentinel is appropriate here.
 if (substr($avatarData, 0, 3) !== "\xFF\xD8\xFF") {
     error_log("user_avatar: non-JPEG data for username=$username");
     file_put_contents($noAvatarSentinel, '');