diff --git a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
index a3cf1f9f4f..ddc0407f14 100644
--- a/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/avatar/MyAvatar.cpp
@@ -675,7 +675,11 @@ void MyAvatar::saveData() {
     settings.setValue("leanScale", _leanScale);
     settings.setValue("scale", _targetScale);
 
-    settings.setValue("fullAvatarURL", _fullAvatarURLFromPreferences);
+    settings.setValue("fullAvatarURL",
+                      _fullAvatarURLFromPreferences == AvatarData::defaultFullAvatarModelUrl() ?
+                      "" :
+                      _fullAvatarURLFromPreferences.toString());
+
     settings.setValue("fullAvatarModelName", _fullAvatarModelName);
     settings.setValue("animGraphURL", _animGraphUrl);
 
diff --git a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarData.cpp b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarData.cpp
index fd13f8c370..a2f4c98218 100644
--- a/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarData.cpp
+++ b/libraries/avatars/src/AvatarData.cpp
@@ -990,7 +990,7 @@ QByteArray AvatarData::identityByteArray() {
     QByteArray identityData;
     QDataStream identityStream(&identityData, QIODevice::Append);
     QUrl emptyURL("");
-    const QUrl& urlToSend = (_skeletonModelURL == AvatarData::defaultFullAvatarModelUrl()) ? emptyURL : _skeletonModelURL;
+    const QUrl& urlToSend = _skeletonModelURL.scheme() == "file" ? emptyURL : _skeletonModelURL;
 
     QUrl unusedModelURL; // legacy faceModel support