diff --git a/js/polliLib/src/image.js b/js/polliLib/src/image.js
index 0491020..3568b89 100644
--- a/js/polliLib/src/image.js
+++ b/js/polliLib/src/image.js
@@ -31,8 +31,16 @@ export async function image(prompt, {
     const data = await r.json();
     if (json) return data;
     if (data?.url) {
-      const ir = await fetch(data.url);
+      const ir = await client.get(data.url);
       if (ir.ok) return await ir.blob();
+      if (retries > 0) {
+        await sleep(retryDelayMs);
+        return await image(prompt, {
+          model, seed, width, height, image, nologo, private: priv,
+          enhance, safe, referrer, json, retries: retries - 1, retryDelayMs,
+        }, client);
+      }
+      throw new Error(`image error ${ir.status}`);
     }
     if (retries > 0) {
       await sleep(retryDelayMs);
diff --git a/tests/pollilib-async-image.mjs b/tests/pollilib-async-image.mjs
index 6d6767a..d943564 100644
--- a/tests/pollilib-async-image.mjs
+++ b/tests/pollilib-async-image.mjs
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ const client = {
   }
 };
 
-global.fetch = async () => ({ ok: true, blob: async () => new Blob(['x'], { type: 'image/png' }) });
+global.fetch = () => { throw new Error('fetch should not be called'); };
 
 const blob = await image('test', {}, client);
 assert(blob instanceof Blob);
+assert.equal(calls, 2);
diff --git a/tests/pollilib-image-error.mjs b/tests/pollilib-image-error.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d40c3b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/pollilib-image-error.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import assert from 'assert/strict';
+import fs from 'fs/promises';
+import { image } from '../js/polliLib/src/image.js';
+
+let calls = 0;
+const pending = JSON.parse(await fs.readFile(new URL('./fixtures/pending-image.json', import.meta.url), 'utf8'));
+const client = {
+  imageBase: 'https://example.com',
+  async get(url, opts = {}) {
+    calls++;
+    if (calls === 1) {
+      return {
+        ok: true,
+        headers: { get: () => 'application/json' },
+        async json() { return pending; },
+      };
+    }
+    return { ok: false, status: 500, headers: { get: () => 'text/plain' } };
+  }
+};
+
+global.fetch = () => { throw new Error('fetch should not be called'); };
+
+let caught = null;
+try {
+  await image('test', { retries: 0 }, client);
+} catch (err) {
+  caught = err;
+}
+assert(caught);
+assert.equal(caught.message, 'image error 500');
+assert.equal(calls, 2);