diff --git a/users-refresher-lambda/src/google/isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar.ts b/users-refresher-lambda/src/google/isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index ac83bb2a..00000000
--- a/users-refresher-lambda/src/google/isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-import fetch from "node-fetch";
-
-/*
- * The Google People API returns an unstable avatar URL (i.e. different every time)
- * for a handful of users (long-serving staff members we think - i.e. old avatars).
- * So this function downloads the avatars to compare the file content, so we can
- * only update the DB when the avatar image has truly changed.
- * */
-export const isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar = async (
-  userEmail: string,
-  databaseAvatarUrl: string | null | undefined,
-  apiAvatarUrl: string | null
-): Promise<boolean> => {
-  if (databaseAvatarUrl === apiAvatarUrl) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  if (!databaseAvatarUrl || !apiAvatarUrl) {
-    return true;
-  }
-  const [databaseAvatar, apiAvatar] = await Promise.all(
-    [databaseAvatarUrl, apiAvatarUrl].map((url) =>
-      fetch(url).then((res) => res.text())
-    )
-  );
-  if (databaseAvatar === apiAvatar) {
-    console.warn(
-      `Avatar for ${userEmail} has the same content, but the URLs are different - thanks Google!`
-    );
-  }
-  return databaseAvatar !== apiAvatar;
-};
diff --git a/users-refresher-lambda/src/index.ts b/users-refresher-lambda/src/index.ts
index 64e01555..fb816b45 100644
--- a/users-refresher-lambda/src/index.ts
+++ b/users-refresher-lambda/src/index.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@ import {
 import { buildUserLookupFromDatabase } from "./google/buildUserLookupFromDatabase";
 import { getGroupMembersFromGoogle } from "./google/getGroupMembersFromGoogle";
 import { getGroupDetailFromGoogle } from "./google/getGroupDetailFromGoogle";
-import { isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar } from "./google/isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar";
 
 const s3 = new S3(standardAwsConfig);
 
@@ -146,11 +145,7 @@ export const handler = async ({
           maybeUserFromDatabase.firstName !== maybeUserFromGoogle.firstName ||
           maybeUserFromDatabase.lastName !== maybeUserFromGoogle.lastName ||
           maybeUserFromDatabase.googleID !== maybeUserFromGoogle.googleID ||
-          (await isDefinitelyDifferentAvatar(
-            email,
-            maybeUserFromDatabase.avatarUrl,
-            maybeAvatarUrl
-          ))
+          maybeUserFromDatabase.avatarUrl !== maybeAvatarUrl // annoyingly these URLs often differ despite the image not changing - thanks Google!!
         ) {
           console.log(`Updating details for user ${email}`);
           await sql`