diff --git a/interface/resources/images/+gles/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx b/interface/resources/images/+gles/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx
deleted file mode 100644
index 6d46791fa2..0000000000
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diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx
deleted file mode 100644
index 70f495c3ab..0000000000
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diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.jpg b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7977396159
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diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4231bf7650
Binary files /dev/null and b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx differ
diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.texmeta b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.texmeta
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e69de29bb2
diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.texmeta.json b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.texmeta.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..28512662d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.texmeta.json
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+{
+    "compressed": {
+        "COMPRESSED_RGB_BPTC_UNSIGNED_FLOAT": "Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_RGB_BPTC_UNSIGNED_FLOAT.ktx",
+        "COMPRESSED_SRGB8_ETC2": "Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_SRGB8_ETC2.ktx"
+    },
+    "original": "Default-Sky-9-cubemap.jpg",
+    "uncompressed": "Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx"
+}
diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_RGB_BPTC_UNSIGNED_FLOAT.ktx b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_RGB_BPTC_UNSIGNED_FLOAT.ktx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c789fa4ac5
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diff --git a/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_SRGB8_ETC2.ktx b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_SRGB8_ETC2.ktx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..deede32614
Binary files /dev/null and b/interface/resources/images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap_COMPRESSED_SRGB8_ETC2.ktx differ
diff --git a/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.cpp b/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.cpp
index 3b23711a64..f4cc4987db 100644
--- a/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.cpp
+++ b/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.cpp
@@ -647,19 +647,18 @@ void RenderDeferred::run(const RenderContextPointer& renderContext, const Inputs
 void DefaultLightingSetup::run(const RenderContextPointer& renderContext) {
 
     if (!_defaultLight || !_defaultBackground) {
-        if (!_defaultSkyboxTexture) {
-            auto textureCache = DependencyManager::get<TextureCache>();
-            {
-                PROFILE_RANGE(render, "Process Default Skybox");
-                QFileSelector fileSelector;
-                fileSelector.setExtraSelectors(FileUtils::getFileSelectors());
-                auto skyboxUrl = fileSelector.select(PathUtils::resourcesPath() + "images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.ktx");
+        if (!_defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture) {
+            PROFILE_RANGE(render, "Process Default Skybox");
+            _defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture = DependencyManager::get<TextureCache>()->getTexture(
+                PathUtils::resourcesPath() + "images/Default-Sky-9-cubemap/Default-Sky-9-cubemap.texmeta.json", image::TextureUsage::CUBE_TEXTURE);
+        }
 
-                _defaultSkyboxTexture = gpu::Texture::unserialize(skyboxUrl.toStdString());
-                _defaultSkyboxAmbientTexture = _defaultSkyboxTexture;
-
-                _defaultSkybox->setCubemap(_defaultSkyboxTexture);
-            }
+        if (_defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture && _defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture->isLoaded() && _defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture->getGPUTexture()) {
+            _defaultSkyboxAmbientTexture = _defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture->getGPUTexture();
+            _defaultSkybox->setCubemap(_defaultSkyboxAmbientTexture);
+        } else {
+            // Don't do anything until the skybox has loaded
+            return;
         }
 
         auto lightStage = renderContext->_scene->getStage<LightStage>();
diff --git a/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.h b/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.h
index 70bfb65f38..d2d27834de 100644
--- a/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.h
+++ b/libraries/render-utils/src/DeferredLightingEffect.h
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ protected:
     graphics::HazePointer _defaultHaze{ nullptr };
     HazeStage::Index _defaultHazeID{ HazeStage::INVALID_INDEX };
     graphics::SkyboxPointer _defaultSkybox { new ProceduralSkybox() };
-    gpu::TexturePointer _defaultSkyboxTexture;
+    NetworkTexturePointer _defaultSkyboxNetworkTexture;
     gpu::TexturePointer _defaultSkyboxAmbientTexture;
 };