diff --git a/gltf/gltfpack.cpp b/gltf/gltfpack.cpp
index 62ae7b32..a01f2070 100644
--- a/gltf/gltfpack.cpp
+++ b/gltf/gltfpack.cpp
@@ -484,22 +484,15 @@ static void process(cgltf_data* data, const char* input_path, const char* output
 	{
 		const cgltf_image& image = data->images[i];
 
+		std::string* encoded = (encoded_images.size() && !encoded_images[i].empty()) ? &encoded_images[i] : NULL;
+
 		comma(json_images);
 		append(json_images, "{");
-		if (encoded_images.size() && !encoded_images[i].empty())
-		{
-			if (encoded_images[i].compare(0, 5, "error") == 0)
-				writeImageError(json_images, "encode", int(i), image.uri, encoded_images[i].c_str());
-			else
-				writeEncodedImage(json_images, views, image, encoded_images[i], images[i], i, output_path, settings);
-
-			encoded_images[i] = std::string(); // reclaim memory early
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			writeImage(json_images, views, image, images[i], i, input_path, output_path, settings);
-		}
+		writeImage(json_images, views, image, images[i], encoded, i, input_path, output_path, settings);
 		append(json_images, "}");
+
+		if (encoded)
+			*encoded = std::string(); // reclaim memory early
 	}
 
 	for (size_t i = 0; i < data->textures_count; ++i)
diff --git a/gltf/gltfpack.h b/gltf/gltfpack.h
index e2260846..5e221d67 100644
--- a/gltf/gltfpack.h
+++ b/gltf/gltfpack.h
@@ -368,9 +368,7 @@ const char* animationPath(cgltf_animation_path_type type);
 void writeMaterial(std::string& json, const cgltf_data* data, const cgltf_material& material, const QuantizationPosition* qp, const QuantizationTexture* qt, std::vector<TextureInfo>& textures);
 void writeBufferView(std::string& json, BufferView::Kind kind, StreamFormat::Filter filter, size_t count, size_t stride, size_t bin_offset, size_t bin_size, BufferView::Compression compression, size_t compressed_offset, size_t compressed_size);
 void writeSampler(std::string& json, const cgltf_sampler& sampler);
-void writeImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_image& image, const ImageInfo& info, size_t index, const char* input_path, const char* output_path, const Settings& settings);
-void writeImageError(std::string& json, const char* action, size_t index, const char* uri, const char* reason = NULL);
-void writeEncodedImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_image& image, const std::string& encoded, const ImageInfo& info, size_t index, const char* output_path, const Settings& settings);
+void writeImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_image& image, const ImageInfo& info, const std::string* encoded, size_t index, const char* input_path, const char* output_path, const Settings& settings);
 void writeTexture(std::string& json, const cgltf_texture& texture, const ImageInfo* info, cgltf_data* data, const Settings& settings);
 void writeMeshAttributes(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, std::string& json_accessors, size_t& accr_offset, const Mesh& mesh, int target, const QuantizationPosition& qp, const QuantizationTexture& qt, const Settings& settings);
 size_t writeMeshIndices(std::vector<BufferView>& views, std::string& json_accessors, size_t& accr_offset, const Mesh& mesh, const Settings& settings);
diff --git a/gltf/write.cpp b/gltf/write.cpp
index 96794bb8..2ab0d190 100644
--- a/gltf/write.cpp
+++ b/gltf/write.cpp
@@ -896,6 +896,15 @@ void writeSampler(std::string& json, const cgltf_sampler& sampler)
 	}
 }
 
+static void writeImageError(std::string& json, const char* action, size_t index, const char* uri, const char* reason)
+{
+	append(json, "\"uri\":\"");
+	append(json, "data:image/png;base64,ERR/");
+	append(json, "\"");
+
+	fprintf(stderr, "Warning: unable to %s image %d (%s), skipping%s%s%s\n", action, int(index), uri ? uri : "embedded", reason ? " (" : "", reason ? reason : "", reason ? ")" : "");
+}
+
 static void writeImageData(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, size_t index, const char* uri, const char* mime_type, const std::string& contents, const char* output_path, TextureKind kind, bool embed)
 {
 	bool dataUri = uri && strncmp(uri, "data:", 5) == 0;
@@ -922,8 +931,18 @@ static void writeImageData(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, si
 	}
 }
 
-void writeImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_image& image, const ImageInfo& info, size_t index, const char* input_path, const char* output_path, const Settings& settings)
+void writeImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_image& image, const ImageInfo& info, const std::string* encoded, size_t index, const char* input_path, const char* output_path, const Settings& settings)
 {
+	if (encoded)
+	{
+		// image was pre-encoded via encodeImages (which might have failed!)
+		if (encoded->compare(0, 5, "error") == 0)
+			writeImageError(json, "encode", int(index), image.uri, encoded->c_str());
+		else
+			writeImageData(json, views, index, image.uri, "image/ktx2", *encoded, output_path, info.kind, settings.texture_embed);
+		return;
+	}
+
 	bool dataUri = image.uri && strncmp(image.uri, "data:", 5) == 0;
 
 	if (image.uri && !dataUri && settings.texture_ref)
@@ -939,27 +958,13 @@ void writeImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_i
 	std::string mime_type;
 	if (!readImage(image, input_path, img_data, mime_type))
 	{
-		writeImageError(json, "read", index, image.uri);
+		writeImageError(json, "read", index, image.uri, NULL);
 		return;
 	}
 
 	writeImageData(json, views, index, image.uri, mime_type.c_str(), img_data, output_path, info.kind, settings.texture_embed);
 }
 
-void writeImageError(std::string& json, const char* action, size_t index, const char* uri, const char* reason)
-{
-	append(json, "\"uri\":\"");
-	append(json, "data:image/png;base64,ERR/");
-	append(json, "\"");
-
-	fprintf(stderr, "Warning: unable to %s image %d (%s), skipping%s%s%s\n", action, int(index), uri ? uri : "embedded", reason ? " (" : "", reason ? reason : "", reason ? ")" : "");
-}
-
-void writeEncodedImage(std::string& json, std::vector<BufferView>& views, const cgltf_image& image, const std::string& encoded, const ImageInfo& info, size_t index, const char* output_path, const Settings& settings)
-{
-	writeImageData(json, views, index, image.uri, "image/ktx2", encoded, output_path, info.kind, settings.texture_embed);
-}
-
 void writeTexture(std::string& json, const cgltf_texture& texture, const ImageInfo* info, cgltf_data* data, const Settings& settings)
 {
 	if (texture.image)