diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6b369e9c27..60840fbe92 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
     "cheerio": "^1.0.0-rc.9",
     "classnames": "^2.2.6",
     "commonmark": "^0.29.3",
+    "context-filter-polyfill": "^0.2.4",
     "counterpart": "^0.18.6",
     "diff-dom": "^4.2.2",
     "diff-match-patch": "^1.0.5",
diff --git a/res/css/structures/_LeftPanel.scss b/res/css/structures/_LeftPanel.scss
index d9db8b4fed..f5a27a2568 100644
--- a/res/css/structures/_LeftPanel.scss
+++ b/res/css/structures/_LeftPanel.scss
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ $roomListCollapsedWidth: 68px;
     // Create a row-based flexbox for the GroupFilterPanel and the room list
     display: flex;
     contain: content;
+    position: relative;
 
     .mx_LeftPanel_GroupFilterPanelContainer {
         flex-grow: 0;
diff --git a/src/components/structures/BackdropPanel.tsx b/src/components/structures/BackdropPanel.tsx
index daaae418c4..c20845c4ae 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/BackdropPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/structures/BackdropPanel.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import React, { createRef } from "react";
+import "context-filter-polyfill";
 
 interface IProps {
     width?: number;
     height?: number;
-    backgroundImage?: ImageBitmap;
+    backgroundImage?: CanvasImageSource;
     blur?: string;
 }
 
@@ -31,20 +32,28 @@ export default class BackdropPanel extends React.PureComponent<IProps> {
         this.canvasRef.current.width = width;
         this.canvasRef.current.height = height;
 
-        const destinationX = width - backgroundImage.width;
-        const destinationY = height - backgroundImage.height;
+        const imageWidth = (backgroundImage as ImageBitmap).width
+            || (backgroundImage as HTMLImageElement).naturalWidth;
+        const imageHeight = (backgroundImage as ImageBitmap).height
+                || (backgroundImage as HTMLImageElement).naturalHeight;
+
+        const destinationX = width - imageWidth;
+        const destinationY = height - imageHeight;
 
         this.ctx.filter = `blur(${this.props.blur})`;
         this.ctx.drawImage(
             backgroundImage,
             Math.min(destinationX, 0),
             Math.min(destinationY, 0),
-            Math.max(width, backgroundImage.width),
-            Math.max(height, backgroundImage.height),
+            Math.max(width, imageWidth),
+            Math.max(height, imageHeight),
         );
     }
 
     public render() {
-        return <canvas ref={this.canvasRef} className="mx_BackdropPanel" />;
+        return <canvas
+            ref={this.canvasRef}
+            className="mx_BackdropPanel"
+        />;
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/components/structures/LeftPanel.tsx b/src/components/structures/LeftPanel.tsx
index f71817480e..4b4d593fce 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/LeftPanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/structures/LeftPanel.tsx
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ import BackdropPanel from "./BackdropPanel";
 interface IProps {
     isMinimized: boolean;
     resizeNotifier: ResizeNotifier;
-    backgroundImage?: ImageBitmap;
+    backgroundImage?: CanvasImageSource;
 }
 
 interface IState {
diff --git a/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.tsx b/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.tsx
index da6163e6a9..371de3679b 100644
--- a/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.tsx
+++ b/src/components/structures/LoggedInView.tsx
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ interface IState {
     usageLimitEventTs?: number;
     useCompactLayout: boolean;
     activeCalls: Array<MatrixCall>;
-    backgroundImage?: ImageBitmap;
+    backgroundImage?: CanvasImageSource;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/components/views/spaces/SpacePanel.tsx b/src/components/views/spaces/SpacePanel.tsx
index 7e8ba2bd3b..eeddc23588 100644
--- a/src/components/views/spaces/SpacePanel.tsx
+++ b/src/components/views/spaces/SpacePanel.tsx
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ const InnerSpacePanel = React.memo<IInnerSpacePanelProps>(({ children, isPanelCo
 });
 
 interface IProps {
-    backgroundImage?: ImageBitmap;
+    backgroundImage?: CanvasImageSource;
 }
 
 const SpacePanel = (props: IProps) => {
diff --git a/src/stores/OwnProfileStore.ts b/src/stores/OwnProfileStore.ts
index aa5dd822ad..3bbadad567 100644
--- a/src/stores/OwnProfileStore.ts
+++ b/src/stores/OwnProfileStore.ts
@@ -19,11 +19,12 @@ import { AsyncStoreWithClient } from "./AsyncStoreWithClient";
 import defaultDispatcher from "../dispatcher/dispatcher";
 import { MatrixEvent } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/models/event";
 import { User } from "matrix-js-sdk/src/models/user";
-import { throttle } from "lodash";
+import { memoize, throttle } from "lodash";
 import { MatrixClientPeg } from "../MatrixClientPeg";
 import { _t } from "../languageHandler";
 import {mediaFromMxc} from "../customisations/Media";
 import SettingsStore from "../settings/SettingsStore";
+import { getDrawable } from "../utils/drawable";
 
 interface IState {
     displayName?: string;
@@ -138,7 +139,7 @@ export class OwnProfileStore extends AsyncStoreWithClient<IState> {
         await this.updateState({displayName: profileInfo.displayname, avatarUrl: profileInfo.avatar_url});
     };
 
-    public async getAvatarBitmap(avatarSize = 32): Promise<ImageBitmap> {
+    public async getAvatarBitmap(avatarSize = 32): Promise<CanvasImageSource> {
         let avatarUrl = this.getHttpAvatarUrl(avatarSize);
         const settingBgMxc = SettingsStore.getValue("RoomList.backgroundImage");
         if (settingBgMxc) {
@@ -146,14 +147,14 @@ export class OwnProfileStore extends AsyncStoreWithClient<IState> {
         }
 
         if (avatarUrl) {
-            const response = await fetch(avatarUrl);
-            const blob = await response.blob();
-            return await createImageBitmap(blob);
+            return await this.buildBitmap(avatarUrl);
         } else {
             return null;
         }
     }
 
+    private buildBitmap = memoize(getDrawable);
+
     private onStateEvents = throttle(async (ev: MatrixEvent) => {
         const myUserId = MatrixClientPeg.get().getUserId();
         if (ev.getType() === 'm.room.member' && ev.getSender() === myUserId && ev.getStateKey() === myUserId) {
diff --git a/src/utils/drawable.ts b/src/utils/drawable.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b6e6af2e32
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/drawable.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/**
+ * Fetch an image using the best available method based on browser compatibility
+ * @param url the URL of the image to fetch
+ * @returns a canvas drawable object
+ */
+export async function getDrawable(url: string): Promise<CanvasImageSource> {
+    if ('createImageBitmap' in window) {
+        const response = await fetch(url);
+        const blob = await response.blob();
+        return await createImageBitmap(blob);
+    } else {
+        return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+            const img = document.createElement("img");
+            img.crossOrigin = "anonymous";
+            img.onload = function() {
+                resolve(img);
+            }
+            img.onerror = function(e) {
+                reject(e);
+            }
+            img.src = url;
+        });
+    }
+}
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 32ca30a996..4584604cef 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -2652,6 +2652,11 @@ content-type@^1.0.4:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/content-type/-/content-type-1.0.4.tgz#e138cc75e040c727b1966fe5e5f8c9aee256fe3b"
   integrity sha512-hIP3EEPs8tB9AT1L+NUqtwOAps4mk2Zob89MWXMHjHWg9milF/j4osnnQLXBCBFBk/tvIG/tUc9mOUJiPBhPXA==
 
+context-filter-polyfill@^0.2.4:
+  version "0.2.4"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/context-filter-polyfill/-/context-filter-polyfill-0.2.4.tgz#ecf88d3197e7c3a47e9a7ae2d5167b703945a5d4"
+  integrity sha512-LDZ3WiTzo6kIeJM7j8kPSgZf+gbD1cV1GaLyYO8RWvAg25cO3zUo3d2KizO0w9hAezNwz7tTbuWKpPdvLWzKqQ==
+
 convert-source-map@^1.1.0, convert-source-map@^1.4.0, convert-source-map@^1.6.0, convert-source-map@^1.7.0:
   version "1.7.0"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/convert-source-map/-/convert-source-map-1.7.0.tgz#17a2cb882d7f77d3490585e2ce6c524424a3a442"