diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts
index e4d96e3bc4..89d5977583 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-page.component.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-import { mergeMap, filter, map, take } from 'rxjs/operators';
+import { mergeMap, filter, map, take, tap } from 'rxjs/operators';
 import { ChangeDetectionStrategy, Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
 import { ActivatedRoute, Router } from '@angular/router';
 
@@ -41,11 +41,6 @@ export class ItemPageComponent implements OnInit {
    */
   itemRD$: Observable<RemoteData<Item>>;
 
-  /**
-   * The item's thumbnail
-   */
-  thumbnail$: Observable<Bitstream>;
-
   /**
    * The view-mode we're currently on
    */
@@ -64,9 +59,5 @@ export class ItemPageComponent implements OnInit {
       redirectToPageNotFoundOn404(this.router)
     );
     this.metadataService.processRemoteData(this.itemRD$);
-    this.thumbnail$ = this.itemRD$.pipe(
-      map((rd: RemoteData<Item>) => rd.payload),
-      filter((item: Item) => hasValue(item)),
-      mergeMap((item: Item) => item.getThumbnail()));
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.html b/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.html
index 781b3ce524..87fd0251f5 100644
--- a/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.html
+++ b/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.html
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 <div class="thumbnail">
-  <img *ngIf="thumbnail && thumbnail.content" [src]="thumbnail.content" (error)="errorHandler($event)" class="img-fluid"/>
-  <img *ngIf="!thumbnail || !thumbnail.content" [src]="defaultImage | dsSafeUrl" class="img-fluid"/>
+  <img [src]="src | dsSafeUrl" (error)="errorHandler($event)" class="img-fluid"/>
 </div>
+
diff --git a/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.ts b/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.ts
index 5e2b713b31..7ebf01e283 100644
--- a/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/thumbnail/thumbnail.component.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import { Component, Input } from '@angular/core';
+import { Component, Input, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
 import { Bitstream } from '../core/shared/bitstream.model';
+import { hasValue } from '../shared/empty.util';
 
 /**
  * This component renders a given Bitstream as a thumbnail.
@@ -12,19 +13,27 @@ import { Bitstream } from '../core/shared/bitstream.model';
   styleUrls: ['./thumbnail.component.scss'],
   templateUrl: './thumbnail.component.html'
 })
-export class ThumbnailComponent {
+export class ThumbnailComponent implements OnInit {
 
   @Input() thumbnail: Bitstream;
 
-  data: any = {};
-
   /**
    * The default 'holder.js' image
    */
   @Input() defaultImage? = 'data:image/svg+xml;charset=UTF-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20width%3D%2293%22%20height%3D%22120%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2093%20120%22%20preserveAspectRatio%3D%22none%22%3E%3C!--%0ASource%20URL%3A%20holder.js%2F93x120%3Ftext%3DNo%20Thumbnail%0ACreated%20with%20Holder.js%202.8.2.%0ALearn%20more%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fholderjs.com%0A(c)%202012-2015%20Ivan%20Malopinsky%20-%20http%3A%2F%2Fimsky.co%0A--%3E%3Cdefs%3E%3Cstyle%20type%3D%22text%2Fcss%22%3E%3C!%5BCDATA%5B%23holder_1543e460b05%20text%20%7B%20fill%3A%23AAAAAA%3Bfont-weight%3Abold%3Bfont-family%3AArial%2C%20Helvetica%2C%20Open%20Sans%2C%20sans-serif%2C%20monospace%3Bfont-size%3A10pt%20%7D%20%5D%5D%3E%3C%2Fstyle%3E%3C%2Fdefs%3E%3Cg%20id%3D%22holder_1543e460b05%22%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%2293%22%20height%3D%22120%22%20fill%3D%22%23EEEEEE%22%2F%3E%3Cg%3E%3Ctext%20x%3D%2235.6171875%22%20y%3D%2257%22%3ENo%3C%2Ftext%3E%3Ctext%20x%3D%2210.8125%22%20y%3D%2272%22%3EThumbnail%3C%2Ftext%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E';
 
+  src: string;
   errorHandler(event) {
     event.currentTarget.src = this.defaultImage;
   }
 
+  ngOnInit(): void {
+      if (hasValue(this.thumbnail) && this.thumbnail.content) {
+        this.src = this.thumbnail.content;
+      }
+      else {
+        this.src = this.defaultImage
+      }
+  }
+
 }