diff --git a/markdown/inlinepatterns.py b/markdown/inlinepatterns.py
index d0f44908b..a1b264c37 100644
--- a/markdown/inlinepatterns.py
+++ b/markdown/inlinepatterns.py
@@ -432,6 +432,10 @@ def makeTag(self, href, title, text):
         el.set("src", self.sanitize_url(href))
         if title:
             el.set("title", title)
+
+        if self.markdown.enable_attributes:
+            text = handleAttributes(text, el)
+
         el.set("alt", self.unescape(text))
         return el
 
diff --git a/tests/misc/attributes-image-ref.html b/tests/misc/attributes-image-ref.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6974420de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/misc/attributes-image-ref.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<p><img alt="img" id="foo" src="http://example.com/i.jpg" /></p>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/misc/attributes-image-ref.txt b/tests/misc/attributes-image-ref.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a21697129
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/misc/attributes-image-ref.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+![img{@id=foo}][img]
+
+  [img]: http://example.com/i.jpg
+