diff --git a/OpenSim/Framework/AvatarAppearance.cs b/OpenSim/Framework/AvatarAppearance.cs
index 1fb01ba1c5..940ae3b0b4 100644
--- a/OpenSim/Framework/AvatarAppearance.cs
+++ b/OpenSim/Framework/AvatarAppearance.cs
@@ -510,6 +510,13 @@ namespace OpenSim.Framework
                 if (te != null && te.Length > 0)
                     Texture = new Primitive.TextureEntry(te, 0, te.Length);
             }
+            else
+            {
+                // We shouldn't be receiving appearance hashtables without a TextureEntry,
+                // but in case we do this will prevent a failure when saving to the database
+                Texture = GetDefaultTexture();
+            }
+
             
             AvatarHeight = (float)Convert.ToDouble((string)h["avatar_height"]);
 
diff --git a/OpenSim/Grid/UserServer.Modules/UserServerAvatarAppearanceModule.cs b/OpenSim/Grid/UserServer.Modules/UserServerAvatarAppearanceModule.cs
index 7941679660..88918d1142 100644
--- a/OpenSim/Grid/UserServer.Modules/UserServerAvatarAppearanceModule.cs
+++ b/OpenSim/Grid/UserServer.Modules/UserServerAvatarAppearanceModule.cs
@@ -110,7 +110,12 @@ namespace OpenSim.Grid.UserServer.Modules
             if (requestData.Contains("owner"))
             {
                 AvatarAppearance appearance = new AvatarAppearance(requestData);
-                m_userDataBaseService.UpdateUserAppearance(new UUID((string)requestData["owner"]), appearance);
+                
+                // TODO: Sometime in the future we may have a database layer that is capable of updating appearance when
+                // the TextureEntry is null. When that happens, this check can be removed
+                if (appearance.Texture != null)
+                    m_userDataBaseService.UpdateUserAppearance(new UUID((string)requestData["owner"]), appearance);
+
                 responseData = new Hashtable();
                 responseData["returnString"] = "TRUE";
             }
diff --git a/prebuild.xml b/prebuild.xml
index 0cf88c3aa8..c4d81cce0e 100644
--- a/prebuild.xml
+++ b/prebuild.xml
@@ -1055,6 +1055,7 @@
       <Reference name="OpenSim.Grid.UserServer.Modules"/>
       <Reference name="OpenMetaverseTypes.dll"/>
       <Reference name="OpenMetaverse.StructuredData.dll"/>
+      <Reference name="OpenMetaverse.dll"/>
       <Reference name="XMLRPC.dll"/>
       <Reference name="log4net.dll"/>
       <Reference name="Nini.dll"/>