diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/Image.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/Image.js
index 50c2548202..abfdf24f39 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/Image.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Tile/Image.js
@@ -339,9 +339,9 @@ OpenLayers.Tile.Image = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Tile, {
      */
     setImgSrc: function(url) {
         var img = this.imgDiv;
-        img.style.visibility = 'hidden';
-        img.style.opacity = 0;
         if (url) {
+            img.style.visibility = 'hidden';
+            img.style.opacity = 0;
             // don't set crossOrigin if the url is a data URL
             if (this.crossOriginKeyword) {
                 if (url.substr(0, 5) !== 'data:') {
@@ -351,6 +351,13 @@ OpenLayers.Tile.Image = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Tile, {
                 }
             }
             img.src = url;
+        } else {
+            // Remove reference to the image, and leave it to the browser's
+            // caching and garbage collection.
+            this.imgDiv = null;
+            if (img.parentNode) {
+                img.parentNode.removeChild(img);
+            }
         }
     },