diff --git a/public/openapi/read/config.yaml b/public/openapi/read/config.yaml
index 946a2bfacd..5d1307a271 100644
--- a/public/openapi/read/config.yaml
+++ b/public/openapi/read/config.yaml
@@ -137,4 +137,10 @@ get:
               hideCategoryLastPost:
                 type: boolean
               enableQuickReply:
-                type: boolean
\ No newline at end of file
+                type: boolean
+              iconBackgrounds:
+                type: array
+                items:
+                  type: string
+                  description: A valid CSS colour code
+                  example: '#fff'
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/user/data.js b/src/user/data.js
index b06717e89c..7b80bb1ee1 100644
--- a/src/user/data.js
+++ b/src/user/data.js
@@ -199,8 +199,13 @@ module.exports = function (User) {
 			// User Icons
 			if (requestedFields.includes('picture') && user.username && parseInt(user.uid, 10) && !meta.config.defaultAvatar) {
 				const iconBackgrounds = await User.getIconBackgrounds(user.uid);
+				let bgColor = await User.getUserField(user.uid, 'icon:bgColor');
+				if (!iconBackgrounds.includes(bgColor)) {
+					bgColor = Array.prototype.reduce.call(user.username, (cur, next) => cur + next.charCodeAt(), 0);
+					bgColor = iconBackgrounds[bgColor % iconBackgrounds.length];
+				}
 				user['icon:text'] = (user.username[0] || '').toUpperCase();
-				user['icon:bgColor'] = await User.getUserField(user.uid, 'icon:bgColor') || iconBackgrounds[Array.prototype.reduce.call(user.username, (cur, next) => cur + next.charCodeAt(), 0) % iconBackgrounds.length];
+				user['icon:bgColor'] = bgColor;
 			}
 
 			if (user.hasOwnProperty('joindate')) {
diff --git a/test/user.js b/test/user.js
index e87f0923b5..ac5e60e7bc 100644
--- a/test/user.js
+++ b/test/user.js
@@ -740,6 +740,23 @@ describe('User', () => {
 			});
 		});
 
+		it('should return an icon text and valid background if username and picture is explicitly requested', async () => {
+			const payload = await User.getUserFields(testUid, ['username', 'picture']);
+			const validBackgrounds = await User.getIconBackgrounds(testUid);
+			assert.strictEqual(payload['icon:text'], userData.username.slice(0, 1).toUpperCase());
+			assert(payload['icon:bgColor']);
+			assert(validBackgrounds.includes(payload['icon:bgColor']));
+		});
+
+		it('should return a valid background, even if an invalid background colour is set', async () => {
+			await User.setUserField(testUid, 'icon:bgColor', 'teal');
+			const payload = await User.getUserFields(testUid, ['username', 'picture']);
+			const validBackgrounds = await User.getIconBackgrounds(testUid);
+
+			assert(payload['icon:bgColor']);
+			assert(validBackgrounds.includes(payload['icon:bgColor']));
+		});
+
 		it('should return private data if field is whitelisted', (done) => {
 			function filterMethod(data, callback) {
 				data.whitelist.push('another_secret');