diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/markdownml.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/markdownml.py
index 2ea3e7dafe..2f7960e94c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/markdownml.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/markdownml.py
@@ -31,9 +31,12 @@ class MarkdownMLizer(object):
         for item in self.oeb_book.spine:
             self.log.debug('Converting %s to Markdown formatted TXT...' % item.href)
             html = unicode(etree.tostring(item.data, encoding=unicode))
-            if self.opts.remove_links:
+            if not self.opts.keep_links:
                 html = re.sub(r'<\s*a[^>]*>', '', html)
                 html = re.sub(r'<\s*/\s*a\s*>', '', html)
+            if not self.opts.keep_image_references:
+                html = re.sub(r'<\s*img[^>]*>', '', html)
+                html = re.sub(r'<\s*img\s*>', '', html)
             output += html2text(html)
         output = u''.join(output)
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/output.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/output.py
index a6f52f92ca..a6369b6f0b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/txt/output.py
@@ -48,11 +48,16 @@ class TXTOutput(OutputFormatPlugin):
         OptionRecommendation(name='markdown_format',
             recommended_value=False, level=OptionRecommendation.LOW,
             help=_('Produce Markdown formatted text.')),
-        OptionRecommendation(name='remove_links',
+        OptionRecommendation(name='keep_links',
             recommended_value=False, level=OptionRecommendation.LOW,
-            help=_('Remove links within the document. This is only ' \
-            'useful when paried with the markdown-format option because' \
-            'links are removed with plain text output.')),
+            help=_('Do not remove links within the document. This is only ' \
+            'useful when paired with the markdown-format option because' \
+            'links are always removed with plain text output.')),
+        OptionRecommendation(name='keep_image_references',
+            recommended_value=False, level=OptionRecommendation.LOW,
+            help=_('Do not remove image references within the document. This is only ' \
+            'useful when paired with the markdown-format option because' \
+            'image references are always removed with plain text output.')),
      ])
 
     def convert(self, oeb_book, output_path, input_plugin, opts, log):
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.py b/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.py
index 3d35151bb8..2fafad4b43 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ class PluginWidget(Widget, Ui_Form):
     def __init__(self, parent, get_option, get_help, db=None, book_id=None):
         Widget.__init__(self, parent,
         ['newline', 'max_line_length', 'force_max_line_length',
-        'inline_toc', 'markdown_format', 'remove_links'])
+        'inline_toc', 'markdown_format', 'keep_links', 'keep_image_references'])
         self.db, self.book_id = db, book_id
         self.initialize_options(get_option, get_help, db, book_id)
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.ui b/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.ui
index 75eac8f5fc..19e4ec52a1 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.ui
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/convert/txt_output.ui
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
    <rect>
     <x>0</x>
     <y>0</y>
-    <width>470</width>
+    <width>477</width>
     <height>300</height>
    </rect>
   </property>
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
    <item row="0" column="1">
     <widget class="QComboBox" name="opt_newline"/>
    </item>
-   <item row="6" column="0">
+   <item row="7" column="0">
     <spacer name="verticalSpacer">
      <property name="orientation">
       <enum>Qt::Vertical</enum>
@@ -75,9 +75,16 @@
     </widget>
    </item>
    <item row="5" column="0">
-    <widget class="QCheckBox" name="opt_remove_links">
+    <widget class="QCheckBox" name="opt_keep_links">
      <property name="text">
-      <string>Remove links (&lt;a&gt; tags) before processing</string>
+      <string>Do not remove links (&lt;a&gt; tags) before processing</string>
+     </property>
+    </widget>
+   </item>
+   <item row="6" column="0">
+    <widget class="QCheckBox" name="opt_keep_image_references">
+     <property name="text">
+      <string>Do not remove image references before processing</string>
      </property>
     </widget>
    </item>