diff --git a/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
index 508691e5fd..53e8d0072b 100644
--- a/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
+++ b/src/components/views/avatars/BaseAvatar.js
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ const BaseAvatar = (props) => {
             );
         } else {
             return (
-                <span className="mx_BaseAvatar" ref={inputRef} {...otherProps}>
+                <span className="mx_BaseAvatar" ref={inputRef} {...otherProps} role="presentation">
                     { textNode }
                     { imgNode }
                 </span>