diff --git a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp
index 6203c5bcff..7af13269f0 100644
--- a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp
+++ b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.cpp
@@ -51,26 +51,26 @@ void AvatarHashMap::processAvatarMixerDatagram(const QByteArray& datagram, const
 }
 
 bool AvatarHashMap::containsAvatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayName) {
-    return avatarWithDisplayName(displayName) == NULL ? false : true;
+    return !avatarWithDisplayName(displayName).isNull();
 }
 
-AvatarData* AvatarHashMap::avatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayName) {
+AvatarWeakPointer AvatarHashMap::avatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayName) {
     foreach(const AvatarSharedPointer& sharedAvatar, _avatarHash) {
         if (sharedAvatar->getDisplayName() == displayName) {
             // this is a match
             // check if this avatar should still be around
             if (!shouldKillAvatar(sharedAvatar)) {
                 // we have a match, return the AvatarData
-                return sharedAvatar.data();
+                return sharedAvatar;
             } else {
                 // we should remove this avatar, but we might not be on a thread that is allowed
                 // so we just return NULL to the caller
-                return NULL;
+                return AvatarWeakPointer();
             }
         }
     }
         
-    return NULL;
+    return AvatarWeakPointer();
 }
 
 AvatarSharedPointer AvatarHashMap::newSharedAvatar() {
diff --git a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h
index 51a592c199..6193657e59 100644
--- a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h
+++ b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarHashMap.h
@@ -30,20 +30,18 @@ class AvatarHashMap : public QObject, public Dependency {
     SINGLETON_DEPENDENCY
     
 public:
-    AvatarHashMap();
-    
     const AvatarHash& getAvatarHash() { return _avatarHash; }
-    int size() const { return _avatarHash.size(); }
     
 public slots:
     void processAvatarMixerDatagram(const QByteArray& datagram, const QWeakPointer<Node>& mixerWeakPointer);
     bool containsAvatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayName);
-    AvatarData* avatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayname);
+    AvatarWeakPointer avatarWithDisplayName(const QString& displayname);
     
 private slots:
     void sessionUUIDChanged(const QUuid& sessionUUID, const QUuid& oldUUID);
     
 protected:
+    AvatarHashMap();
     virtual AvatarHash::iterator erase(const AvatarHash::iterator& iterator);
     
     bool shouldKillAvatar(const AvatarSharedPointer& sharedAvatar);