diff --git a/config/vufind/config.ini b/config/vufind/config.ini
index 0e58e1f9407..fde0e9a18c4 100644
--- a/config/vufind/config.ini
+++ b/config/vufind/config.ini
@@ -1172,7 +1172,7 @@ coverproxyAllowedTypes[] = "image/png"
 ; Otherwise, you can use noCoverAvailableImage to specify a
 ; path relative to the base of your theme directory for a static image to display.
 ; If set to "false", no image will be displayed for unavailable covers.
-noCoverAvailableImage = images/noCover2.gif
+noCoverAvailableImage = images/no-cover-image.webp
 
 ; You can select from Syndetics and/or the Guardian
 ;   Note: If the API key is omitted, e.g. "Guardian:", only the review title, byline,
diff --git a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/ImageLoader.php b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/ImageLoader.php
index fa5b7ee7438..557fa3f47e4 100644
--- a/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/ImageLoader.php
+++ b/module/VuFind/src/VuFind/ImageLoader.php
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ class ImageLoader implements \Psr\Log\LoggerAwareInterface
         'jpeg' => 'image/jpeg', 'jpg' => 'image/jpeg',
         'png' => 'image/png',
         'tiff' => 'image/tiff', 'tif' => 'image/tiff',
+        'webp' => 'image/webp',
     ];
 
     /**
diff --git a/themes/bootstrap5/templates/Recommend/OpenLibrarySubjects.phtml b/themes/bootstrap5/templates/Recommend/OpenLibrarySubjects.phtml
index a86657af65c..d968f6fb912 100644
--- a/themes/bootstrap5/templates/Recommend/OpenLibrarySubjects.phtml
+++ b/themes/bootstrap5/templates/Recommend/OpenLibrarySubjects.phtml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
           <?php if (isset($work['cover_id']) && !empty($work['cover_id'])): ?>
             <img src="http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/<?=$this->escapeHtmlAttr($work['cover_id_type'])?>/<?=$this->escapeHtmlAttr($work['cover_id'])?>-S.jpg" class="olSubjectImage" alt="<?=$this->escapeHtmlAttr($work['title'])?>">
           <?php else: ?>
-            <img src="<?=$this->imageLink('noCover2.gif')?>" class="olSubjectImage" alt="<?=$this->escapeHtmlAttr($work['title'])?>">
+            <img src="<?=$this->imageLink('no-cover-image.webp')?>" class="olSubjectImage" alt="<?=$this->escapeHtmlAttr($work['title'])?>">
           <?php endif; ?>
           </span>
           <span><?=$this->escapeHtmlAttr($this->truncate($work['title'], 50))?></span>
diff --git a/themes/root/images/no-cover-image.webp b/themes/root/images/no-cover-image.webp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9ba06c7b4be
Binary files /dev/null and b/themes/root/images/no-cover-image.webp differ