diff --git a/ts/session/utils/AttachmentsDownload.ts b/ts/session/utils/AttachmentsDownload.ts
index 801768c13..f53afebd8 100644
--- a/ts/session/utils/AttachmentsDownload.ts
+++ b/ts/session/utils/AttachmentsDownload.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import { getAttachmentMetadata } from '../../types/message/initializeAttachmentM
 import { AttachmentDownloadMessageDetails } from '../../types/sqlSharedTypes';
 import { was404Error } from '../apis/snode_api/onions';
 import * as Constants from '../constants';
+import { skipAttachmentsDownloads } from '../../shared/env_vars';
 
 // this may cause issues if we increment that value to > 1, but only having one job will block the whole queue while one attachment is downloading
 const MAX_ATTACHMENT_JOB_PARALLELISM = 3;
@@ -140,6 +141,10 @@ async function _maybeStartJob() {
 async function _runJob(job: any) {
   const { id, messageId, attachment, type, index, attempts, isOpenGroupV2, openGroupV2Details } =
     job || {};
+  if (skipAttachmentsDownloads()) {
+    await _finishJob(null, id);
+    return;
+  }
   let found: MessageModel | undefined | null;
   try {
     if (!job || !attachment || !messageId) {
diff --git a/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarDownloadJob.ts b/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarDownloadJob.ts
index 868b972c6..9e62f9ffa 100644
--- a/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarDownloadJob.ts
+++ b/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarDownloadJob.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import { processAvatarData } from '../../../../util/avatar/processAvatarData';
 import { downloadAttachmentFs } from '../../../../receiver/attachments';
 import { extractDetailsFromUrlFragment } from '../../../url';
 import { MultiEncryptWrapperActions } from '../../../../webworker/workers/browser/libsession_worker_interface';
+import { skipAttachmentsDownloads } from '../../../../shared/env_vars';
 
 const defaultMsBetweenRetries = 10000;
 const defaultMaxAttempts = 3;
@@ -89,6 +90,10 @@ class AvatarDownloadJob extends PersistedJob<AvatarDownloadPersistedData> {
   }
 
   public async run(): Promise<RunJobResult> {
+    if (skipAttachmentsDownloads()) {
+      return RunJobResult.Success;
+    }
+
     const convoId = this.persistedData.conversationId;
 
     window.log.debug(
diff --git a/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarMigrateJob.ts b/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarMigrateJob.ts
index ec476cade..cbc478d8b 100644
--- a/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarMigrateJob.ts
+++ b/ts/session/utils/job_runners/jobs/AvatarMigrateJob.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import { processAvatarData } from '../../../../util/avatar/processAvatarData';
 import { DecryptedAttachmentsManager } from '../../../crypto/DecryptedAttachmentsManager';
 import { IMAGE_JPEG } from '../../../../types/MIME';
 import { NetworkTime } from '../../../../util/NetworkTime';
+import { skipAttachmentsDownloads } from '../../../../shared/env_vars';
 
 const defaultMsBetweenRetries = 10000;
 const defaultMaxAttempts = 3;
@@ -85,6 +86,9 @@ class AvatarMigrateJob extends PersistedJob<AvatarMigratePersistedData> {
   }
 
   public async run(): Promise<RunJobResult> {
+    if (skipAttachmentsDownloads()) {
+      return RunJobResult.Success;
+    }
     const convoId = this.persistedData.conversationId;
 
     window.log.debug(`running job ${this.persistedData.jobType} with conversationId:"${convoId}"`);
diff --git a/ts/shared/env_vars.ts b/ts/shared/env_vars.ts
index a829ad227..11c597c12 100644
--- a/ts/shared/env_vars.ts
+++ b/ts/shared/env_vars.ts
@@ -32,3 +32,11 @@ export function isUnitTest() {
 export function isDebugMode() {
   return !!process.env.SESSION_DEV;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Returns true when any kind of avatars/attachments should not be downloaded.
+ * This is for our users with an issue with sharp that makes the app crashes.
+ */
+export function skipAttachmentsDownloads() {
+  return !!process.env.SESSION_SKIP_ATTACHMENTS_DOWNLOADS;
+}