diff --git a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/Configuration.java b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/Configuration.java
index 5b132345..3de33100 100644
--- a/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/Configuration.java
+++ b/proxy/src/main/java/net/md_5/bungee/conf/Configuration.java
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ import com.google.common.base.Preconditions;
 import com.google.common.io.BaseEncoding;
 import com.google.common.io.Files;
 import gnu.trove.map.TMap;
+import java.awt.Image;
+import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
@@ -11,6 +14,7 @@ import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
+import javax.imageio.ImageIO;
 import lombok.Getter;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.ProxyConfig;
 import net.md_5.bungee.api.ProxyServer;
@@ -63,7 +67,21 @@ public class Configuration implements ProxyConfig
         {
             try
             {
-                favicon = "data:image/png;base64," + BaseEncoding.base64().encode( Files.toByteArray( fav ) );
+                BufferedImage image = ImageIO.read( fav );
+                if ( image.getHeight() == 64 && image.getWidth() == 64 )
+                {
+                    ByteArrayOutputStream bytes = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+                    ImageIO.write( image, "png", bytes );
+                    favicon = "data:image/png;base64," + BaseEncoding.base64().encode( bytes.toByteArray() );
+                    if ( favicon.length() > Short.MAX_VALUE )
+                    {
+                        ProxyServer.getInstance().getLogger().log( Level.WARNING, "Favicon file too large for server to process" );
+                        favicon = null;
+                    }
+                } else
+                {
+                    ProxyServer.getInstance().getLogger().log( Level.WARNING, "Server icon must be exactly 64x64 pixels" );
+                }
             } catch ( IOException ex )
             {
                 ProxyServer.getInstance().getLogger().log( Level.WARNING, "Could not load server icon", ex );