diff --git a/resources/images/config.go b/resources/images/config.go
index 923b6ad0c..3f0b3eec7 100644
--- a/resources/images/config.go
+++ b/resources/images/config.go
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ func ImageFormatFromMediaSubType(sub string) (Format, ImageResourceType) {
 
 const (
 	defaultJPEGQuality      = 75
+	defaultAVIFQuality      = 60
 	defaultResampleFilter   = "box"
 	defaultBgColor          = "#ffffff"
 	defaultHint             = "photo"
@@ -177,7 +178,6 @@ var (
 		"resampleFilter": defaultResampleFilter,
 		"bgColor":        defaultBgColor,
 		"hint":           defaultHint,
-		"quality":        defaultJPEGQuality,
 		"compression":    defaultCompression,
 		"webp": map[string]any{
 			"useSharpYuv": defaultWebpUseSharpYuv,
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ func DecodeConfig(in map[string]any) (*config.ConfigNamespace[ImagingConfig, Ima
 		if err != nil {
 			return ImagingConfigInternal{}, nil, err
 		}
+		_, qualityExplicit := m["quality"]
 		// Merge in the defaults.
 		hmaps.MergeShallow(m, defaultImaging)
 
@@ -226,6 +227,7 @@ func DecodeConfig(in map[string]any) (*config.ConfigNamespace[ImagingConfig, Ima
 		if err := mapstructure.Decode(m, &i.Imaging); err != nil {
 			return i, nil, err
 		}
+		i.Imaging.qualityExplicit = qualityExplicit
 
 		if err := i.Imaging.init(); err != nil {
 			return i, nil, err
@@ -488,9 +490,15 @@ func (i *ImagingConfigInternal) Compile(externalCfg *ImagingConfig) error {
 // ImagingConfig contains default image processing configuration. This will be fetched
 // from site (or language) config.
 type ImagingConfig struct {
-	// Default image quality setting (1-100). Only used for JPEG and WebP images.
+	// Default image quality setting (1-100). Used as the fallback for JPEG,
+	// WebP and AVIF when no per-format quality is set. When left unset, JPEG
+	// and WebP default to 75 and AVIF to 60 (its scale differs perceptually).
 	Quality int
 
+	// Whether Quality was explicitly set in the config. When false, AVIF uses
+	// its own lower default instead of the global Quality.
+	qualityExplicit bool
+
 	// Compression method to use.
 	// One of "lossy" or "lossless".
 	// Note that lossless is currently only supported for WebP and AVIF.
@@ -534,6 +542,9 @@ func (cfg *ImagingConfig) qualityFor(f Format) int {
 	if q > 0 {
 		return q
 	}
+	if f == AVIF && !cfg.qualityExplicit {
+		return defaultAVIFQuality
+	}
 	return cfg.Quality
 }
 
@@ -544,6 +555,9 @@ var validMetaSources = map[string]bool{
 }
 
 func (cfg *ImagingConfig) init() error {
+	if cfg.Quality == 0 && !cfg.qualityExplicit {
+		cfg.Quality = defaultJPEGQuality
+	}
 	if cfg.Quality < 1 || cfg.Quality > 100 {
 		return errors.New("image quality must be a number between 1 and 100")
 	}
diff --git a/resources/images/config_test.go b/resources/images/config_test.go
index 3cdb91d37..ef53b9208 100644
--- a/resources/images/config_test.go
+++ b/resources/images/config_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/gohugoio/hugo/config"
+
 	qt "github.com/frankban/quicktest"
 )
 
@@ -150,6 +152,37 @@ func TestImageConfigQualityPerFormat(t *testing.T) {
 	c.Assert(err, qt.ErrorMatches, ".*quality must be.*")
 }
 
+// See issue 14979.
+func TestImageConfigAvifDefaultQuality(t *testing.T) {
+	c := qt.New(t)
+
+	quality := func(cfg *config.ConfigNamespace[ImagingConfig, ImagingConfigInternal], opts ...string) int {
+		conf, err := DecodeImageConfig(append([]string{"resize", "100x"}, opts...), cfg, JPEG)
+		c.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
+		return conf.Quality
+	}
+
+	// With nothing configured, AVIF defaults to 60 while JPEG/WebP stay at 75.
+	cfg, err := DecodeConfig(map[string]any{})
+	c.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
+	c.Assert(quality(cfg, "avif"), qt.Equals, 60)
+	c.Assert(quality(cfg, "jpg"), qt.Equals, 75)
+	c.Assert(quality(cfg, "webp"), qt.Equals, 75)
+
+	// An explicit global quality applies to AVIF too.
+	cfg, err = DecodeConfig(map[string]any{"quality": 80})
+	c.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
+	c.Assert(quality(cfg, "avif"), qt.Equals, 80)
+
+	// An explicit per-format AVIF quality wins over the default.
+	cfg, err = DecodeConfig(map[string]any{"avif": map[string]any{"quality": 90}})
+	c.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
+	c.Assert(quality(cfg, "avif"), qt.Equals, 90)
+
+	// A per-image quality still wins.
+	c.Assert(quality(cfg, "avif", "q33"), qt.Equals, 33)
+}
+
 func TestDecodeImageConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	for i, this := range []struct {
 		action string
diff --git a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/avif.avif b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/avif.avif
index f19cc19b2..db3656528 100644
Binary files a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/avif.avif and b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/avif.avif differ
diff --git a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-avif.avif b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-avif.avif
index a2b8ea341..66e75b055 100644
Binary files a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-avif.avif and b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-avif.avif differ
diff --git a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-ff9999-avif.avif b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-ff9999-avif.avif
index e08e61744..2f0afd70c 100644
Binary files a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-ff9999-avif.avif and b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/crop-300x300-smart-ff9999-avif.avif differ
diff --git a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r1.avif b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r1.avif
index 5e38d2467..660e91d79 100644
Binary files a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r1.avif and b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r1.avif differ
diff --git a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r2.avif b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r2.avif
index 9a0883cd6..d4c46f2fd 100644
Binary files a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r2.avif and b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avif/r2.avif differ
diff --git a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avifstraws/resize-900x.avif b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avifstraws/resize-900x.avif
index b33b00676..a728de049 100644
Binary files a/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avifstraws/resize-900x.avif and b/resources/images/testdata/images_golden/process/avifstraws/resize-900x.avif differ