diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/output.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/output.py
index 8e9c9efea9..6e381d5237 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/epub/output.py
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ class EPUBOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
                 bad = []
                 for x in XPath('//h:img')(body):
                     src = x.get('src', '').strip()
-                    if src in ('', '#'):
+                    if src in ('', '#') or src.startswith('http:'):
                         bad.append(x)
                 for img in bad:
                     img.getparent().remove(img)