diff --git a/lib/types/avatar-types.js b/lib/types/avatar-types.js
index f5a5413e4..28836abdf 100644
--- a/lib/types/avatar-types.js
+++ b/lib/types/avatar-types.js
@@ -1,75 +1,79 @@
 // @flow
 
-import t, { type TUnion } from 'tcomb';
+import t, { type TUnion, type TInterface } from 'tcomb';
 
 import type { CreateUpdatesResult } from './update-types.js';
-import { tShape, tString } from '../utils/validation-utils.js';
+import { validHexColorRegex } from '../shared/account-utils.js';
+import { onlyOneEmojiRegex } from '../shared/emojis.js';
+import { tRegex, tShape, tString } from '../utils/validation-utils.js';
 
 export type EmojiAvatarDBContent = {
   +type: 'emoji',
   +emoji: string,
   +color: string, // hex, without "#" or "0x"
 };
-const emojiAvatarDBContentValidator = tShape<EmojiAvatarDBContent>({
-  type: tString('emoji'),
-  emoji: t.String,
-  color: t.String,
-});
+export const emojiAvatarDBContentValidator: TInterface<EmojiAvatarDBContent> =
+  tShape<EmojiAvatarDBContent>({
+    type: tString('emoji'),
+    emoji: tRegex(onlyOneEmojiRegex),
+    color: tRegex(validHexColorRegex),
+  });
 
 export type ImageAvatarDBContent = {
   +type: 'image',
   +uploadID: string,
 };
 
 export type ENSAvatarDBContent = {
   +type: 'ens',
 };
-const ensAvatarDBContentValidator = tShape({ type: tString('ens') });
+export const ensAvatarDBContentValidator: TInterface<ENSAvatarDBContent> =
+  tShape({ type: tString('ens') });
 
 export type AvatarDBContent =
   | EmojiAvatarDBContent
   | ImageAvatarDBContent
   | ENSAvatarDBContent;
 
 export type UpdateUserAvatarRemoveRequest = { +type: 'remove' };
 
 export type UpdateUserAvatarRequest =
   | AvatarDBContent
   | UpdateUserAvatarRemoveRequest;
 
 export type ClientEmojiAvatar = EmojiAvatarDBContent;
 const clientEmojiAvatarValidator = emojiAvatarDBContentValidator;
 
 export type ClientImageAvatar = {
   +type: 'image',
   +uri: string,
 };
 const clientImageAvatarValidator = tShape<ClientImageAvatar>({
   type: tString('image'),
   uri: t.String,
 });
 
 export type ClientENSAvatar = ENSAvatarDBContent;
 const clientENSAvatarValidator = ensAvatarDBContentValidator;
 
 export type ClientAvatar =
   | ClientEmojiAvatar
   | ClientImageAvatar
   | ClientENSAvatar;
 export const clientAvatarValidator: TUnion<ClientAvatar> = t.union([
   clientEmojiAvatarValidator,
   clientImageAvatarValidator,
   clientENSAvatarValidator,
 ]);
 
 export type ResolvedClientAvatar = ClientEmojiAvatar | ClientImageAvatar;
 
 export type UpdateUserAvatarResponse = {
   +updates: CreateUpdatesResult,
 };
 
 export type GenericUserInfoWithAvatar = {
   +username?: ?string,
   +avatar?: ?ClientAvatar,
   ...
 };
diff --git a/lib/utils/avatar-utils.js b/lib/utils/avatar-utils.js
index d4c9cd971..1e1ada787 100644
--- a/lib/utils/avatar-utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils/avatar-utils.js
@@ -1,51 +1,39 @@
 // @flow
 
 import t from 'tcomb';
 import type { TUnion, TInterface } from 'tcomb';
 
-import { tRegex, tShape, tString, tID } from './validation-utils.js';
-import { validHexColorRegex } from '../shared/account-utils.js';
-import { onlyOneEmojiRegex } from '../shared/emojis.js';
-import type {
-  ENSAvatarDBContent,
-  EmojiAvatarDBContent,
-  ImageAvatarDBContent,
-  UpdateUserAvatarRemoveRequest,
-  UpdateUserAvatarRequest,
-} from '../types/avatar-types';
-
-const emojiAvatarDBContentValidator: TInterface<EmojiAvatarDBContent> = tShape({
-  type: tString('emoji'),
-  emoji: tRegex(onlyOneEmojiRegex),
-  color: tRegex(validHexColorRegex),
-});
+import { tShape, tString, tID } from './validation-utils.js';
+import {
+  type ImageAvatarDBContent,
+  type UpdateUserAvatarRemoveRequest,
+  type UpdateUserAvatarRequest,
+  emojiAvatarDBContentValidator,
+  ensAvatarDBContentValidator,
+} from '../types/avatar-types.js';
 
 const imageAvatarDBContentValidator: TInterface<ImageAvatarDBContent> = tShape({
   type: tString('image'),
   uploadID: tID,
 });
 
-const ensAvatarDBContentValidator: TInterface<ENSAvatarDBContent> = tShape({
-  type: tString('ens'),
-});
-
 const updateUserAvatarRemoveRequestValidator: TInterface<UpdateUserAvatarRemoveRequest> =
   tShape({
     type: tString('remove'),
   });
 
 const updateUserAvatarRequestValidator: TUnion<UpdateUserAvatarRequest> =
   t.union([
     emojiAvatarDBContentValidator,
     imageAvatarDBContentValidator,
     ensAvatarDBContentValidator,
     updateUserAvatarRemoveRequestValidator,
   ]);
 
 export {
   emojiAvatarDBContentValidator,
   imageAvatarDBContentValidator,
   ensAvatarDBContentValidator,
   updateUserAvatarRemoveRequestValidator,
   updateUserAvatarRequestValidator,
 };