diff --git a/lisp/image.el b/lisp/image.el
index 7e42c26dd69b848556a3389a2c26532f74bd6979..99632b84307934ba08f5b5bbe3f56d07570e9e4d 100644
--- a/lisp/image.el
+++ b/lisp/image.el
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ Optional DATA-P non-nil means SOURCE is a string containing image data."
 		 (or (image-type-from-file-header source)
 		     (image-type-from-file-name source))))
     (or type (error "Cannot determine image type")))
-  (or (memq type image-types)
+  (or (memq type (and (boundp 'image-types) image-types))
       (error "Invalid image type `%s'" type))
   type)