diff --git a/changelog.d/avatar_mentions.change b/changelog.d/avatar_mentions.change
deleted file mode 100644
index f75f02ea4..000000000
--- a/changelog.d/avatar_mentions.change
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-If user avatars next to mentions are enabled it will show empty placeholder avatar next to label while user is being fetched, to avoid jumps
diff --git a/src/components/mention_link/mention_link.vue b/src/components/mention_link/mention_link.vue
index 3973522b0..33f0d9db7 100644
--- a/src/components/mention_link/mention_link.vue
+++ b/src/components/mention_link/mention_link.vue
@@ -8,20 +8,15 @@
       :href="url"
       class="original"
       target="_blank"
-    ><!-- eslint-enable vue/no-v-html -->
-      <UserAvatar
-        v-if="shouldShowAvatar"
-        class="mention-avatar"
-        :user-id="null"
-      />
-      <span v-html="content" />
-    </a>
+      v-html="content"
+    /><!-- eslint-enable vue/no-v-html -->
     <UserPopover
       v-else
       :user-id="user.id"
       :disabled="!shouldShowTooltip"
     >
       <span
+        v-if="user"
         class="new"
         :style="style"
         :class="classnames"
diff --git a/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.js b/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.js
index c8701fe66..b80aa8fb8 100644
--- a/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.js
+++ b/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ const UserAvatar = {
   props: {
     // UserID of a user to show avatar of
     userId: {
-      required: false, // You can pass null to just render a placeholder
+      required: true,
       type: String,
     },
     // Use less space and use alternative roundness
diff --git a/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.vue b/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.vue
index 613d224a0..d9e96d52d 100644
--- a/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.vue
+++ b/src/components/user_avatar/user_avatar.vue
@@ -70,7 +70,6 @@
 
     &.-placeholder {
       background-color: var(--background);
-      border: 1px solid var(--border)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/specs/components/rich_content.spec.js b/test/unit/specs/components/rich_content.spec.js
index 81ce72e87..19bfdc035 100644
--- a/test/unit/specs/components/rich_content.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/specs/components/rich_content.spec.js
@@ -354,13 +354,11 @@ describe('RichContent', () => {
         '<span class="MentionLink mention-link">',
         '<a href="lol" class="original" target="_blank">',
         '<span>',
-        '<span>',
         'https://</span>',
         '<span>',
         'lol.tld/</span>',
         '<span>',
         '</span>',
-        '</span>',
         '</a>',
         '</span>',
         '</span>',
@@ -420,25 +418,21 @@ describe('RichContent', () => {
       '<span class="MentionLink mention-link">',
       '<a href="lol" class="original" target="_blank">',
       '<span>',
-      '<span>',
       'https://</span>',
       '<span>',
       'lol.tld/</span>',
       '<span>',
       '</span>',
-      '</span>',
       '</a>',
       '</span>',
       '<span class="MentionLink mention-link">',
       '<a href="lol" class="original" target="_blank">',
       '<span>',
-      '<span>',
       'https://</span>',
       '<span>',
       'lol.tld/</span>',
       '<span>',
       '</span>',
-      '</span>',
       '</a>',
       '</span>',
       '</span>',