diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs
index f554d4887..43c3cce4b 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/HTML.hs
@@ -407,7 +407,10 @@ inlineToHtml opts inline =
     (Image txt (source,tit)) -> do
                         alternate <- inlineListToHtml opts txt
                         let alternate' = renderHtmlFragment alternate
-                        let attributes = [src source, title tit] ++ 
+                        let attributes = [src source] ++
+                                         (if null tit 
+                                            then [] 
+                                            else [title tit]) ++ 
                                          if null txt 
                                             then [] 
                                             else [alt alternate']
diff --git a/tests/writer.html b/tests/writer.html
index 9a6f7cecc..c461522d5 100644
--- a/tests/writer.html
+++ b/tests/writer.html
@@ -1033,7 +1033,7 @@ document.write('<a h'+'ref'+'="ma'+'ilto'+':'+e+'">'+'<code>'+e+'</code>'+'<\/'+
     ><img src="lalune.jpg" title="Voyage dans la Lune" alt="lalune"
        /></p
     ><p
-    >Here is a movie <img src="movie.jpg" title="" alt="movie"
+    >Here is a movie <img src="movie.jpg" alt="movie"
        /> icon.</p
     ><hr
      /><h1 id="footnotes"