diff --git a/lib/selectors/user-selectors.js b/lib/selectors/user-selectors.js
--- a/lib/selectors/user-selectors.js
+++ b/lib/selectors/user-selectors.js
@@ -3,11 +3,16 @@
 import _memoize from 'lodash/memoize.js';
 import { createSelector } from 'reselect';
 
+import {
+  getAvatarForUser,
+  getRandomDefaultEmojiAvatar,
+} from '../shared/avatar-utils.js';
 import SearchIndex from '../shared/search-index.js';
 import {
   getSingleOtherUser,
   memberHasAdminPowers,
 } from '../shared/thread-utils.js';
+import type { ClientEmojiAvatar } from '../types/avatar-types';
 import type { BaseAppState } from '../types/redux-types.js';
 import { userRelationshipStatus } from '../types/relationship-types.js';
 import {
@@ -19,6 +24,7 @@
   UserInfos,
   RelativeUserInfo,
   AccountUserInfo,
+  CurrentUserInfo,
 } from '../types/user-types.js';
 
 // Used for specific message payloads that include an array of user IDs, ie.
@@ -205,6 +211,19 @@
   },
 );
 
+const savedEmojiAvatarSelectorForCurrentUser: (
+  state: BaseAppState<*>,
+) => ClientEmojiAvatar = createSelector(
+  (state: BaseAppState<*>) => state.currentUserInfo && state.currentUserInfo,
+  (currentUser: ?CurrentUserInfo) => {
+    let userAvatar = getAvatarForUser(currentUser);
+    if (userAvatar.type !== 'emoji') {
+      userAvatar = getRandomDefaultEmojiAvatar();
+    }
+    return userAvatar;
+  },
+);
+
 export {
   userIDsToRelativeUserInfos,
   getRelativeMemberInfos,
@@ -214,4 +233,5 @@
   isLoggedIn,
   userStoreSearchIndex,
   usersWithPersonalThreadSelector,
+  savedEmojiAvatarSelectorForCurrentUser,
 };