diff --git a/tests/tester.cc b/tests/tester.cc
index 6b10979..b06c30d 100644
--- a/tests/tester.cc
+++ b/tests/tester.cc
@@ -1199,4 +1199,51 @@ TEST_CASE("inverse-bind-matrices-optional", "[issue-492]") {
 
   REQUIRE(true == ret);
   REQUIRE(err.empty());
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+bool LoadImageData(tinygltf::Image * /* image */, const int /* image_idx */, std::string * /* err */,
+                   std::string * /* warn */, int /* req_width */, int /* req_height */,
+                   const unsigned char * /* bytes */, int /* size */, void * /*user_data */) {
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool WriteImageData(const std::string * /* basepath */, const std::string * /* filename */,
+                    const tinygltf::Image *image, bool /* embedImages */,
+                    const tinygltf::FsCallbacks * /* fs_cb */, const tinygltf::URICallbacks * /* uri_cb */,
+                    std::string * /* out_uri */, void * user_pointer) {
+    REQUIRE(user_pointer != nullptr);
+    auto counter = static_cast<int*>(user_pointer);
+    *counter = *counter + 1;
+    return true;
+}
+
+TEST_CASE("empty-images-not-written", "[issue-495]") {
+  std::string err;
+  std::string warn;
+  tinygltf::Model model;
+  tinygltf::TinyGLTF ctx;
+
+  ctx.SetImageLoader(LoadImageData, nullptr);
+  bool ok = ctx.LoadASCIIFromFile(&model, &err, &warn, "../models/Cube/Cube.gltf");
+  REQUIRE(ok);
+  REQUIRE(err.empty());
+  REQUIRE(warn.empty());
+
+  CHECK(model.images.size() == 2);
+  for (const auto& image : model.images) {
+    // No data loaded or decoded
+    CHECK(image.image.empty());
+    // The URI is kept
+    CHECK_FALSE(image.uri.empty());
+    // The URI should not be a data URI
+    CHECK(image.uri.find("data:") != 0);
+  }
+
+  // Now write the loaded model
+  int counter = 0;
+  ctx.SetImageWriter(WriteImageData, &counter);
+  ok = ctx.WriteGltfSceneToFile(&model, "issue-495-external.gltf");
+  CHECK(ok);
+  // WriteImageData should be invoked for both images
+  CHECK(counter == 2);
+}
diff --git a/tiny_gltf.h b/tiny_gltf.h
index 2fa0c21..669cb65 100644
--- a/tiny_gltf.h
+++ b/tiny_gltf.h
@@ -2767,6 +2767,12 @@ bool WriteImageData(const std::string *basepath, const std::string *filename,
                     const Image *image, bool embedImages,
                     const FsCallbacks* fs_cb, const URICallbacks *uri_cb,
                     std::string *out_uri, void *) {
+  // Early out on empty images, report the original uri if the image was not written.
+  if (image->image.empty()) {
+    *out_uri = *filename;
+    return true;
+  }
+
   const std::string ext = GetFilePathExtension(*filename);
 
   // Write image to temporary buffer
@@ -3309,11 +3315,12 @@ static bool UpdateImageObject(const Image &image, std::string &baseDir,
     filename = std::to_string(index) + "." + ext;
   }
 
-  // If callback is set and image data exists, modify image data object. If
-  // image data does not exist, this is not considered a failure and the
-  // original uri should be maintained.
+  // If callback is set, modify image data object.
+  // Note that the callback is also invoked for images without data.
+  // The default callback implementation simply returns true for
+  // empty images and sets the out URI to filename.
   bool imageWritten = false;
-  if (WriteImageData != nullptr && !filename.empty() && !image.image.empty()) {
+  if (WriteImageData != nullptr && !filename.empty()) {
     imageWritten = WriteImageData(&baseDir, &filename, &image, embedImages,
                                   fs_cb, uri_cb, out_uri, user_data);
     if (!imageWritten) {
@@ -4387,7 +4394,7 @@ static bool ParseImage(Image *image, const int image_idx, std::string *err,
     }
   } else {
     // Assume external file
-    // Keep texture path (for textures that cannot be decoded)
+    // Unconditionally keep the external URI of the image
     image->uri = uri;
 #ifdef TINYGLTF_NO_EXTERNAL_IMAGE
     return true;
@@ -4434,6 +4441,7 @@ static bool ParseImage(Image *image, const int image_idx, std::string *err,
     }
     return false;
   }
+
   return LoadImageData(image, image_idx, err, warn, 0, 0, &img.at(0),
                        static_cast<int>(img.size()), load_image_user_data);
 }