diff --git a/lib/org-ruby/html_output_buffer.rb b/lib/org-ruby/html_output_buffer.rb
index 180bd80..fc14bc4 100644
--- a/lib/org-ruby/html_output_buffer.rb
+++ b/lib/org-ruby/html_output_buffer.rb
@@ -314,19 +314,14 @@ def inline_formatting(str)
           text.sub!(/\Afile(|\+emacs|\+sys):(?=[^\s]+\Z)/, "")
         end
 
-        # We don't add a description for images in links, because its
-        # empty value forces the image to be inlined.
-        defi ||= link unless link =~ @re_help.org_image_file_regexp
-
-        if defi =~ @re_help.org_image_file_regexp
-          defi = quote_tags "<img src=\"#{defi}\" alt=\"#{defi}\" />"
-        end
-
-        if defi
-          link = @options[:link_abbrevs][link] if @options[:link_abbrevs].has_key? link
-          quote_tags("<a href=\"#{link}\">") + defi + quote_tags("</a>")
+        if link =~ @re_help.org_image_file_regexp
+          quote_tags "<img src=\"#{link}\" alt=\"#{defi || link}\" />"
         else
-          quote_tags "<img src=\"#{link}\" alt=\"#{link}\" />"
+          if defi =~ @re_help.org_image_file_regexp
+            defi = quote_tags "<img src=\"#{defi}\" alt=\"#{defi}\" />"
+          end
+          link = @options[:link_abbrevs][link] if @options[:link_abbrevs].has_key? link
+          quote_tags("<a href=\"#{link}\">") + (defi || link) + quote_tags("</a>")
         end
       end
 
diff --git a/spec/html_examples/image-with-alt-description.html b/spec/html_examples/image-with-alt-description.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..57baf72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/html_examples/image-with-alt-description.html
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<p>Image with alt description</p>
+<p>This image should use the description as the alt attribute:</p>
+<p><img src="screenshots/cool_screenshot.jpg" alt="A screenshot of our new UI" /></p>
diff --git a/spec/html_examples/image-with-alt-description.org b/spec/html_examples/image-with-alt-description.org
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d453ab5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/html_examples/image-with-alt-description.org
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Image with alt description
+
+This image should use the description as the alt attribute:
+
+[[file:screenshots/cool_screenshot.jpg][A screenshot of our new UI]]