diff --git a/news/tests/fixtures.py b/news/tests/fixtures.py
index 56552767..620468b3 100644
--- a/news/tests/fixtures.py
+++ b/news/tests/fixtures.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import datetime
+import io
 
+from PIL import Image
 import pytest
 from django.db.models import Q
 from django.contrib.auth.models import Group, Permission
@@ -98,7 +100,14 @@ def moderator_user(db, make_user):
     # we could use `tp.make_user` but we need this fix to be released
     # https://github.com/revsys/django-test-plus/issues/199
     user = make_user(email="moderator@example.com", perms=["news.*"])
-    user.image = "test.png"
+
+    file = io.BytesIO()
+    filename = "test.png"
+    file.name = filename
+    image = Image.new("RGBA", size=(100, 100), color=(155, 0, 0))
+    image.save(file, 'png')
+    file.seek(0)
+    user.image.save(filename, file)
     user.save()
     return user
 
diff --git a/news/tests/test_views.py b/news/tests/test_views.py
index cc3c77ee..7d073597 100644
--- a/news/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/news/tests/test_views.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from datetime import date, timedelta
 from io import BytesIO
 
+from PIL import Image
 import pytest
 from django.core import mail
 from django.utils.text import slugify
@@ -377,7 +378,17 @@ def test_news_create_requirements(
     url = tp.reverse(url_name)
 
     # Setup user based on parameters
-    user.image = "test_image.jpg" if has_image else None
+    if has_image:
+        file = BytesIO()
+        filename = "test_image.jpg"
+        file.name = filename
+        image = Image.new("RGB", size=(100, 100), color=(155, 0, 0))
+        image.save(file, 'jpeg')
+        file.seek(0)
+        user.image.save(filename, file)
+    else:
+        user.image = None
+
     user.first_name = "Test" if has_first_name else ""
     user.last_name = "User" if has_last_name else ""
     user.save()