diff --git a/site/_includes/news_item.html b/site/_includes/news_item.html
index 3ded9925..bf04dc9f 100644
--- a/site/_includes/news_item.html
+++ b/site/_includes/news_item.html
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
       {{ post.date | date_to_string }}
     </span>
     <a href="https://github.com/{{ post.author }}" class="post-author">
-      {% avatar {{ post.author}} size=24 %}
+      {% assign author = post.author %}
+      {% avatar user=author size=24 %}
       {{ post.author }}
     </a>
   </div>