diff --git a/lisp/image-mode.el b/lisp/image-mode.el
index 7dfa691065c..3666009c7e0 100644
--- a/lisp/image-mode.el
+++ b/lisp/image-mode.el
@@ -761,9 +761,11 @@ was inserted."
 	 (type (if (fboundp 'imagemagick-types)
 		   'imagemagick
 		 (image-type file-or-data nil data-p)))
+         ;; :scale 1: If we do not set this, create-image will apply
+         ;; default scaling based on font size.
 	 (image (if (not edges)
-		    (create-image file-or-data type data-p)
-		  (create-image file-or-data type data-p
+		    (create-image file-or-data type data-p :scale 1)
+		  (create-image file-or-data type data-p :scale 1
 				:max-width (- (nth 2 edges) (nth 0 edges))
 				:max-height (- (nth 3 edges) (nth 1 edges)))))
 	 (inhibit-read-only t)