diff --git a/image.c b/image.c
index 4c9e393..6c8c465 100644
--- a/image.c
+++ b/image.c
@@ -412,16 +412,10 @@ Imlib_Image img_open(const fileinfo_t *file)
 	Imlib_Image im = NULL;
 
 	if (access(file->path, R_OK) == 0 &&
-	    stat(file->path, &st) == 0 && S_ISREG(st.st_mode))
+	    stat(file->path, &st) == 0 && S_ISREG(st.st_mode) &&
+	    (im = imlib_load_image_immediately(file->path)) != NULL)
 	{
-		im = imlib_load_image(file->path);
-		if (im != NULL) {
-			imlib_context_set_image(im);
-			if (imlib_image_get_data_for_reading_only() == NULL) {
-				imlib_free_image();
-				im = NULL;
-			}
-		}
+		imlib_context_set_image(im);
 	}
 	if (im == NULL && (file->flags & FF_WARN))
 		error(0, 0, "%s: Error opening image", file->name);