diff --git a/Dockerfile.arch b/Dockerfile.arch
index f7e64576..7a7b2553 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.arch
+++ b/Dockerfile.arch
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ RUN pacman -Syu --noconfirm && pacman -S --needed --noconfirm \
   pkg-config \
   python \
   wget \
-  sqlite
+  sqlite \
+  gdk-pixbuf2
 
 RUN mkdir -p /usr/src/{stabber,profanity}
 
diff --git a/Dockerfile.debian b/Dockerfile.debian
index c7e0300b..ae002148 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.debian
+++ b/Dockerfile.debian
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
   pkg-config \
   python3-dev \
   python-dev-is-python3 \
-  libsqlite3-dev
+  libsqlite3-dev \
+  libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-dev
 
 RUN mkdir -p /usr/src/{stabber,libstrophe,profanity}
 WORKDIR /usr/src
diff --git a/Dockerfile.fedora b/Dockerfile.fedora
index 684794dd..8238fd48 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.fedora
+++ b/Dockerfile.fedora
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ RUN dnf install -y \
   python3-devel \
   readline-devel \
   openssl-devel \
-  sqlite-devel
+  sqlite-devel \
+  gdk-pixbuf2-devel
 
 # https://github.com/openSUSE/docker-containers-build/issues/26
 ENV LANG en_US.UTF-8
diff --git a/Dockerfile.tumbleweed b/Dockerfile.tumbleweed
index 3820dc84..8c75e8a4 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.tumbleweed
+++ b/Dockerfile.tumbleweed
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ RUN zypper --non-interactive in --no-recommends \
   python38 \
   python38-devel \
   readline-devel \
-  sqlite3-devel
+  sqlite3-devel \
+  gdk-pixbuf-devel
 
 # https://github.com/openSUSE/docker-containers-build/issues/26
 ENV LANG en_US.UTF-8
diff --git a/Dockerfile.ubuntu b/Dockerfile.ubuntu
index a9ff84b0..6ca0d721 100644
--- a/Dockerfile.ubuntu
+++ b/Dockerfile.ubuntu
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
   pkg-config \
   python3-dev \
   python-dev-is-python3 \
-  libsqlite3-dev
+  libsqlite3-dev \
+  libgdk-pixbuf-2.0-dev
 
 RUN mkdir -p /usr/src/{stabber,libstrophe,profanity}
 WORKDIR /usr/src
diff --git a/ci-build.sh b/ci-build.sh
index b1a02fc0..a26693f2 100755
--- a/ci-build.sh
+++ b/ci-build.sh
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ case $(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]') in
         tests=(
         "--enable-notifications --enable-icons-and-clipboard --enable-otr --enable-pgp
         --enable-omemo --enable-plugins --enable-c-plugins
-        --enable-python-plugins --with-xscreensaver"
+        --enable-python-plugins --with-xscreensaver --enable-gdk-pixbuf"
         "--disable-notifications --disable-icons-and-clipboard --disable-otr --disable-pgp
         --disable-omemo --disable-plugins --disable-c-plugins
         --disable-python-plugins --without-xscreensaver"
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ case $(uname | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]') in
         "--disable-c-plugins"
         "--disable-c-plugins --disable-python-plugins"
         "--without-xscreensaver"
+        "--disable-gdk-pixbuf"
         "")
         ;;
     darwin*)
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index dad9cc28..2cf3e026 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -311,7 +311,8 @@ fi
 dnl feature: pixbuf / used for scaling avatars before uploading via `/avatar set`
 AS_IF([test "x$enable_pixbuf" != xno],
     [PKG_CHECK_MODULES([gdk_pixbuf], [gdk-pixbuf-2.0 >= 2.4],
-        [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PIXBUF], [1], [gdk-pixbuf module])],
+        [AC_DEFINE([HAVE_PIXBUF], [1], [gdk-pixbuf module])
+         LIBS="$gdk_pixbuf_LIBS $LIBS" CFLAGS="$gdk_pixbuf_CFLAGS $CFLAGS"],
         [AS_IF([test "x$enable_pixbuf" = xyes],
                [AC_MSG_ERROR([gdk-pixbuf-2.0 >= 2.4 is required to scale avatars before uploading])],
                [AC_MSG_NOTICE([gdk-pixbuf-2.0 >= 2.4 not found, GDK Pixbuf support not enabled])])])])