diff --git a/osu.Game/Users/Avatar.cs b/osu.Game/Users/Avatar.cs
index 111c901ca0..7ced0305fd 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Users/Avatar.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Users/Avatar.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2007-2017 ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>.
 // Licensed under the MIT Licence - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ppy/osu/master/LICENCE
 
+using System;
 using osu.Framework.Allocation;
 using osu.Framework.Graphics;
 using osu.Framework.Graphics.Containers;
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ namespace osu.Game.Users
         [BackgroundDependencyLoader]
         private void load(TextureStore textures)
         {
+            if (textures == null)
+                throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(textures));
+
             Texture texture = null;
             if (user != null && user.Id > 1) texture = textures.Get($@"https://a.ppy.sh/{user.Id}");
             if (texture == null) texture = textures.Get(@"Online/avatar-guest");