diff --git a/changelog.d/17598.bugfix b/changelog.d/17598.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cf8d2b0975
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/17598.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Remove images from message notification e-mails.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/synapse/res/templates/notif.html b/synapse/res/templates/notif.html
index 7d86681fed..39f05b85a3 100644
--- a/synapse/res/templates/notif.html
+++ b/synapse/res/templates/notif.html
@@ -1,19 +1,6 @@
 {%- for message in notif.messages %}
     <tr class="{{ "historical_message" if message.is_historical else "message" }}">
         <td class="sender_avatar">
-            {%- if loop.index0 == 0 or notif.messages[loop.index0 - 1].sender_name != notif.messages[loop.index0].sender_name %}
-                {%- if message.sender_avatar_url %}
-                    <img alt="" class="sender_avatar" src="{{ message.sender_avatar_url|mxc_to_http(32,32) }}"  />
-                {%- else %}
-                    {%- if message.sender_hash % 3 == 0 %}
-                        <img class="sender_avatar" src="https://riot.im/img/external/avatar-1.png"  />
-                    {%- elif message.sender_hash % 3 == 1 %}
-                        <img class="sender_avatar" src="https://riot.im/img/external/avatar-2.png"  />
-                    {%- else %}
-                        <img class="sender_avatar" src="https://riot.im/img/external/avatar-3.png"  />
-                    {%- endif %}
-                {%- endif %}
-            {%- endif %}
         </td>
         <td class="message_contents">
             {%- if loop.index0 == 0 or notif.messages[loop.index0 - 1].sender_name != notif.messages[loop.index0].sender_name %}
@@ -30,7 +17,7 @@
                     {%- elif message.msgtype == "m.notice" %}
                         {{ message.body_text_html }}
                     {%- elif message.msgtype == "m.image" and message.image_url %}
-                        <img src="{{ message.image_url|mxc_to_http(640, 480, 'scale') }}" />
+                        <span class="filename">{{ message.body_text_plain }} (image)</span>
                     {%- elif message.msgtype == "m.file" %}
                         <span class="filename">{{ message.body_text_plain }}</span>
                     {%- else %}
diff --git a/synapse/res/templates/room.html b/synapse/res/templates/room.html
index 4fc6f6ac9b..b72a14d7ef 100644
--- a/synapse/res/templates/room.html
+++ b/synapse/res/templates/room.html
@@ -1,17 +1,6 @@
 <table class="room">
     <tr class="room_header">
         <td class="room_avatar">
-            {%- if room.avatar_url %}
-                <img alt="" src="{{ room.avatar_url|mxc_to_http(48,48) }}" />
-            {%- else %}
-                {%- if room.hash % 3 == 0 %}
-                    <img alt="" src="https://riot.im/img/external/avatar-1.png"  />
-                {%- elif room.hash % 3 == 1 %}
-                    <img alt="" src="https://riot.im/img/external/avatar-2.png"  />
-                {%- else %}
-                    <img alt="" src="https://riot.im/img/external/avatar-3.png"  />
-                {%- endif %}
-            {%- endif %}
         </td>
         <td class="room_name" colspan="2">
             {{ room.title }}
diff --git a/tests/push/test_email.py b/tests/push/test_email.py
index e0aab1c046..5ce706682d 100644
--- a/tests/push/test_email.py
+++ b/tests/push/test_email.py
@@ -338,44 +338,6 @@ def test_multiple_rooms(self) -> None:
         # We should get emailed about those messages
         self._check_for_mail()
 
-    def test_room_notifications_include_avatar(self) -> None:
-        # Create a room and set its avatar.
-        room = self.helper.create_room_as(self.user_id, tok=self.access_token)
-        self.helper.send_state(
-            room, "m.room.avatar", {"url": "mxc://DUMMY_MEDIA_ID"}, self.access_token
-        )
-
-        # Invite two other uses.
-        for other in self.others:
-            self.helper.invite(
-                room=room, src=self.user_id, tok=self.access_token, targ=other.id
-            )
-            self.helper.join(room=room, user=other.id, tok=other.token)
-
-        # The other users send some messages.
-        # TODO It seems that two messages are required to trigger an email?
-        self.helper.send(room, body="Alpha", tok=self.others[0].token)
-        self.helper.send(room, body="Beta", tok=self.others[1].token)
-
-        # We should get emailed about those messages
-        args, kwargs = self._check_for_mail()
-
-        # That email should contain the room's avatar
-        msg: bytes = args[5]
-        # Multipart: plain text, base 64 encoded; html, base 64 encoded
-
-        # Extract the html Message object from the Multipart Message.
-        # We need the asserts to convince mypy that this is OK.
-        html_message = email.message_from_bytes(msg).get_payload(i=1)
-        assert isinstance(html_message, email.message.Message)
-
-        # Extract the `bytes` from the html Message object, and decode to a `str`.
-        html = html_message.get_payload(decode=True)
-        assert isinstance(html, bytes)
-        html = html.decode()
-
-        self.assertIn("_matrix/media/v1/thumbnail/DUMMY_MEDIA_ID", html)
-
     def test_empty_room(self) -> None:
         """All users leaving a room shouldn't cause the pusher to break."""
         # Create a simple room with two users