diff --git a/src/Avatar.tsx b/src/Avatar.tsx
index d0cb243c..46e2bf21 100644
--- a/src/Avatar.tsx
+++ b/src/Avatar.tsx
@@ -181,9 +181,16 @@ async function getAvatarFromWidgetAPI(
   const file = response.file;
 
   // element-web sends a Blob, and the MSC4039 is considering changing the spec to strictly Blob, so only handling that
-  if (!(file instanceof Blob)) {
-    throw new Error("Downloaded file is not a Blob");
+  if (file instanceof Blob) {
+    return file;
+  } else if (typeof file === "string") {
+    // it is a base64 string
+    const bytes = Uint8Array.from(atob(file), (c) =>
+      c.charCodeAt(0),
+    );
+    return new Blob([bytes]);
   }
+  throw new Error("Downloaded file format is not supported: " + typeof file + "");
+
 
-  return file;
 }