diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 281d3c40..b6f76e7d 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+  - fixed errornous creation of '//' in image_path in html_image (messju)
   - fix escapement of special chars for key vals in debug
     console (Monte)
   - fixed debug timing logic for config_load (Tom Sommer, Monte)
diff --git a/libs/plugins/function.html_image.php b/libs/plugins/function.html_image.php
index 30000056..4707225e 100644
--- a/libs/plugins/function.html_image.php
+++ b/libs/plugins/function.html_image.php
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ function smarty_function_html_image($params, &$smarty)
     }
 
 	if(substr($file,0,1) == DIR_SEP) {
-		$_image_path = $basedir . DIR_SEP . $file;
+		$_image_path = $basedir . $file;
 	} else {
 		$_image_path = $file;
 	}