diff --git a/development.ini b/development.ini
--- a/development.ini
+++ b/development.ini
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ use_gravatar = true
 ## {email}        user email
 ## {md5email}     md5 hash of the user email (like at gravatar.com)
 ## {size}         size of the image that is expected from the server application
+## {scheme}       http/https from RhodeCode server
+## {netloc}       network location from RhodeCode server
 #alternative_gravatar_url = http://myavatarserver.com/getbyemail/{email}/{size}
 #alternative_gravatar_url = http://myavatarserver.com/getbymd5/{md5email}?s={size}
 
diff --git a/production.ini b/production.ini
--- a/production.ini
+++ b/production.ini
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ use_gravatar = true
 ## {email}        user email
 ## {md5email}     md5 hash of the user email (like at gravatar.com)
 ## {size}         size of the image that is expected from the server application
+## {scheme}       http/https from RhodeCode server
+## {netloc}       network location from RhodeCode server
 #alternative_gravatar_url = http://myavatarserver.com/getbyemail/{email}/{size}
 #alternative_gravatar_url = http://myavatarserver.com/getbymd5/{md5email}?s={size}
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/config/deployment.ini_tmpl b/rhodecode/config/deployment.ini_tmpl
--- a/rhodecode/config/deployment.ini_tmpl
+++ b/rhodecode/config/deployment.ini_tmpl
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ use_gravatar = true
 ## {email}        user email
 ## {md5email}     md5 hash of the user email (like at gravatar.com)
 ## {size}         size of the image that is expected from the server application
+## {scheme}       http/https from RhodeCode server
+## {netloc}       network location from RhodeCode server
 #alternative_gravatar_url = http://myavatarserver.com/getbyemail/{email}/{size}
 #alternative_gravatar_url = http://myavatarserver.com/getbymd5/{md5email}?s={size}
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py b/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
--- a/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/rhodecode/lib/helpers.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import urllib
 import math
 import logging
 import re
+import urlparse
 
 from datetime import datetime
 from pygments.formatters.html import HtmlFormatter
@@ -711,11 +712,15 @@ HasRepoPermissionAny, HasRepoPermissionA
 #==============================================================================
 
 def gravatar_url(email_address, size=30):
+    from pylons import url  ## doh, we need to re-import url to mock it later
     if(str2bool(config['app_conf'].get('use_gravatar')) and
        config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar_url')):
         tmpl = config['app_conf'].get('alternative_gravatar_url', '')
+        parsed_url = urlparse.urlparse(url.current(qualified=True))
         tmpl = tmpl.replace('{email}', email_address)\
-                   .replace('{md5email}', hashlib.md5(email_address.lower()).hexdigest())\
+                   .replace('{md5email}', hashlib.md5(email_address.lower()).hexdigest()) \
+                   .replace('{netloc}', parsed_url.netloc)\
+                   .replace('{scheme}', parsed_url.scheme)\
                    .replace('{size}', str(size))
         return tmpl
 
diff --git a/rhodecode/tests/test_libs.py b/rhodecode/tests/test_libs.py
--- a/rhodecode/tests/test_libs.py
+++ b/rhodecode/tests/test_libs.py
@@ -159,19 +159,40 @@ class TestLibs(unittest.TestCase):
             config['app_conf']['use_gravatar'] = True
             config['app_conf'].update(kwargs)
             return config
-        fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{email}')
-        with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
-            grav = gravatar_url(email_address='test@foo.com', size=24)
-            assert grav == 'http://test.com/test@foo.com'
+
+        class fake_url():
+            @classmethod
+            def current(cls, *args, **kwargs):
+                return 'https://server.com'
+
+        with mock.patch('pylons.url', fake_url):
+            fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{email}')
+            with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
+                    from pylons import url
+                    assert url.current() == 'http://server.com'
+                    grav = gravatar_url(email_address='test@foo.com', size=24)
+                    assert grav == 'http://test.com/test@foo.com'
+
+            fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{email}')
+            with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
+                grav = gravatar_url(email_address='test@foo.com', size=24)
+                assert grav == 'http://test.com/test@foo.com'
 
-        fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{md5email}')
-        with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
-            em = 'test@foo.com'
-            grav = gravatar_url(email_address=em, size=24)
-            assert grav == 'http://test.com/%s' % (_md5(em))
+            fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{md5email}')
+            with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
+                em = 'test@foo.com'
+                grav = gravatar_url(email_address=em, size=24)
+                assert grav == 'http://test.com/%s' % (_md5(em))
 
-        fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{md5email}/{size}')
-        with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
-            em = 'test@foo.com'
-            grav = gravatar_url(email_address=em, size=24)
-            assert grav == 'http://test.com/%s/%s' % (_md5(em), 24)
+            fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='http://test.com/{md5email}/{size}')
+            with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
+                em = 'test@foo.com'
+                grav = gravatar_url(email_address=em, size=24)
+                assert grav == 'http://test.com/%s/%s' % (_md5(em), 24)
+
+            fake = fake_conf(alternative_gravatar_url='{scheme}://{netloc}/{md5email}/{size}')
+            with mock.patch('pylons.config', fake):
+                em = 'test@foo.com'
+                grav = gravatar_url(email_address=em, size=24)
+                assert grav == 'https://server.com/%s/%s' % (_md5(em), 24)
+